Soul Fire
by FifteenthApostle
Summary: Naruto and Hinata's friendship is starting to get... complicated. But when a new threat to the ninja world arises, they may not have time to work things out. Their lives and their hearts are about to be turned upside down. Hope you like your fics long.
1. First Spark

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 1: First spark

The noon day sun shone softly through the windows of Hinata's hospital room. It had been three days since she had awoken back in Konoha after her mission to the Land of Lightning. Though she and her team had recovered the stolen scrolls from the three rogue cloud ninja, the mission had been far from easy. Reaching for the glass of water beside her hospital bed, Hinata was reminded why she was there. She winced, clutching her abdomen as she felt fire shoot through her left side. The pain wasn't nearly as bad as it had been; at least she could walk around now without too much discomfort. But she still couldn't go home without a doctor's permission.

The hospital room seemed lonely somehow. The plain white walls and unending quiet made her feel even more alone than usual. Her team mates had already been sent away on another mission before she had awoken from her surgery. Aside from one brief call-in by her cousin Neji, she'd had no visitors, other than the daily checkups from Sakura Haruno the medical ninja.

Sakura, her old classmate from the academy, another of the so called 'rookie nine', now one of the most accomplished chunin in the village, trained by the Fifth Hokage herself. But most importantly - to Hinata at least - she was on the same team as Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki. Just thinking about that plucky blonde haired ninja always made a tingle run down her spine. It seemed like such a long time since she had last laid eyes on him. He'd been back in Konoha only a few months after his special training with Master Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin. She'd thought about him every day since he'd been gone, and even more since he'd been back.

As she lay back on her hospital bed her thoughts returned to the first time that she'd seen him after his long absence. He'd grown so much, both in stature and in handsomeness, she thought to herself with a smile. She felt a familiar warmth grow in her cheeks, spreading across her face and down into her shoulders. She'd tried to hide from him, but he'd found her so quickly. For over two years she had only seen him in her memories; then suddenly he was right in front of her. His voice was so much deeper now, as he spoke her name, so much more masculine. The warm feeling spread into her chest, down her back, and settled in her belly. It seemed to make the pain from her wound subside a little. His face had changed too, his jaw was more firm, and his cheeks had lost the chubbiness of youth. And the whisker marks that had once seemed so cute, even comical, had become darker and more pronounced. Now they made him look rugged, almost fierce. But despite all the other changes, his eyes were still the same. If she remembered nothing else, she would remember those dazzling cerulean orbs, which seemed to sparkle with an inner fire. She shivered contentedly as the tingling sensation ran through her again. Everything around her was forgotten, even the pain of her wound disappeared as she lost herself in a daydream. She closed her eyes and smiled; a secret smile that nobody ever saw; a smile that she saved just for herself, and maybe someday, for him.

Hinata jumped when a knock at the door jolted her back into reality.

"Hey, Hinata, it's time for your check-up," The pink haired kunoichi chimed as she entered the room.

"Oh uh, g-good afternoon, Sakura," Hinata replied as she tried to regain her composure.

The young medical ninja fixed her with an appraising stare as she placed her medical bag on the side table. "Well, looks like you're feeling better," she noted with a smile. "Perhaps you'll be ready to go home today."

'Better?' Hinata thought to herself in puzzlement. She didn't feel any better than she did yesterday.

"You lost an awful lot of blood, you know. But it looks like you've started to get some colour back in your face," Sakura said, still beaming. Hinata suddenly realised how much she must be blushing from her little daydream.

"Have you had any more visitors?" Sakura asked as she began her examination. Hinata felt her sense of loneliness return. Her silence seemed to answer Sakura's question. "Oh... well your father and sister did come to see you after the surgery, but you were still unconscious."

Hinata was all too aware of her father's coldness toward her. She thought for a brief moment if he would be more interested in visiting were it Hanabi lying in a hospital bed. But she immediately banished such thoughts, refusing to blame her younger sister for her father's feelings. She quickly tried to change the subject to something she knew would help her forget her loneliness. "Um, Sakura, how is... Naruto doing?" she asked, whilst carefully avoiding eye contact.

"Naruto?" she replied, with a quizzical look. "Why are you asking about him all of a sudden?"

"Oh, well I... I just heard he was taking the chunin exam again," Hinata mumbled, trying desperately to keep the blood from rushing to her face.

"Ah, that's right. You missed seeing the final competition the other day, didn't you. Wow, you missed out on a great show. None of the other competitors even came close to beating him." Sakura eagerly began recounting each of his matches as she continued the examination. Hinata hung on every word, trying to picture the events in her mind. "He's grown so much stronger over the past few years," she continued. "I don't think anyone expected him to become so powerful."

'Nobody but me,' Hinata thought to herself. 'I always knew he was going to be stronger than anyone else. Once he makes up his mind there's nothing in the world that can stand in his way.'

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked with a sideways glance. Only then did Hinata realise she'd been smiling.

"Oh, um... n-nothing." Hinata once again felt warmth in her cheeks.

"Hmm... alright then." Sakura's questioning stare only caused the warmth to grow. "Well, I'd say you're ready to go home."

"Huh?" The sudden change of subject caught Hinata off guard.

"Your wound is healing well," Sakura continued. "Normally I would keep you under observation for another day or two, but you certainly have more colour in your face, and you seem more cheerful too." Again Hinata avoided eye contact. "Just make sure you take it easy. No training or exercise of any kind for at least a week. Just take things slow, okay?"

"Oh, y-yes of course. Thank you Sakura." Hinata wasn't really sure if she was well enough to go home, but she wasn't about to tell the real cause for all of the colour in her cheeks.

With her medical bag packed, the pink haired kunoichi started making her way to the door. "You just take care of yourself. See you later."

"Uh, w-wait Sakura." One question was still in her mind. "Um, do you… do you think Naruto will um… finally become a chunin?" She managed to ask.

With a quick glance at the door Sakura stepped in and leaned close to Hinata's ear. "You know what?" she whispered with a sly grin. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone this, but Lady Hokage has already made the decision. He's going to be promoted to chunin today."

Hinata barely managed to stifle a squeal of delight. "That's wonderful! He's waited so long," She whispered back, allowing herself to smile this time.

"Just don't tell anyone else. Bye," Sakura said, still grinning as she closed the door behind her.

Hinata lay back down on her hospital bed, bathing in the warmth of the afternoon sun. And again she let herself drift off into a daydream about the boy with the sparkling blue eyes.

* * *

The evening sun washed the village of Konoha in an orange glow. Naruto Uzumaki stood atop the cliffs above, a smile of achievement written firmly across his face.

"Just you watch, Konoha village. Today I'm a chunin, next I'll be a Jonin, and then I'll be Lord Hokage," He said quietly, to nobody in particular. He closed his eyes basking in the sunlight, and took in a deep breath through his nose. A slight grumble emanated from his stomach, and he smiled even wider. "Time to celebrate!"

In seconds he was down amongst the houses and shops, racing through the village streets toward his destination. "Ichiraku's, here I come. Mmm, I can already taste it." He chuckled to himself, and ran even faster. So fast that he didn't see the dark haired girl until it was too late.

Hinata gasped in shock when the orange blur appeared from around the corner and barrelled headlong into her from the side. The girl's usually quick reflexes were hampered by her wound, and she had no time to get out of the way. Her pack was knocked off her shoulder into the street, and she almost followed it. She tripped over her unknown assailant's feet and fell to her knees. Her wound flared. Hinata gripped at her side with both hands, squeezed her eyes shut and winced from the pain.

"Aw man, I've really got to watch where I'm going," Naruto scolded himself as he rolled into a sitting position. He looked around and found the person he'd collided with. "Huh? Hinata, is that you?" Scrambling over to her on all fours, he reached out a hand to steady her. "Hinata, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

The voice seemed familiar. Hinata hadn't seen who'd run into her, she'd been lost in another daydream about... she froze, her eyes still shut tight. Was she imagining things? Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm, holding her up.

"Hinata. Hey, Hinata." Naruto gently shook her. 'Aw man, I hope I didn't hurt her,' He thought worriedly. 'Why won't she say something?'

'It's him... It's really him!' Hinata felt a tightness in her chest. She swallowed hard, and forced herself to breathe. Hesitantly she opened her eyes, and there he was. That messy blond hair, those whisker painted cheeks… and those eyes.

"Hinata?" 'Why's she looking at me like that?' the boy puzzled as the wide eyed girl stared at him, her mouth hanging agape.

Blood flowed into Hinata's face, her chest tightened again, she couldn't breathe. She could feel her heart beating like a drum, echoing in her ears like thunder. Her head felt light, her vision blurred, she could tell it was happening again. But as she felt herself falling forward, something else snapped her awake. The stabbing pain shot through her again. She grimaced as she clutched at her abdomen, squeezing her eyes shut once more.

'Oh man, she's really hurt!' the boy thought. "Hold on Hinata, I'll get some help." He scrambled to his feet and turned to leave.

"No..." Hinata squeaked. "I... I'm fine..." She drew in a deep breath, as the pain began to ebb. "It... it's not your fault."

Naruto spun back to face her. Only then did he notice the bandages under her jacket. "Oh man, that looks serious! What happened?"

"It's nothing... just... just a scratch." She reached for her pack.

"Hey, let me give you a hand." Before she could say another word, he scooped the pack up onto his shoulder and lifted her gently to her feet. "So you've been in the hospital, right?"

Hinata nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground, fearful of what could happen if she looked into those eyes of his again. Her heart was still pounding in her chest. His touch made her tremble, and her knees barely had the strength to hold her up.

"Whoa, you look exhausted!" Naruto exclaimed when he saw her struggling to stand. "Hey, I'll bet you haven't had a decent meal in a while. That hospital food is lousy," He continued with a chuckle. "Actually I was just on my way to get some ramen. How 'bout I buy you some?"

Hinata's heart skipped a beat. 'Is he... is he asking me on a... date?' Slowly her gaze drifted up to meet his. She tried to speak but couldn't find the breath. Her vision blurred, her head swam, and her knees finally gave way.

Naruto almost fell over again, as Hinata's unconscious form slumped into his arms. "What the...? Hinata? Hey, Hinata! Oh man, what is with this girl?" He was suddenly aware of how many people had been watching them, and noticed that many of them seemed to find their situation quite amusing.

An old man strolled past with a fishing pole over his shoulder. "Fine catch you've got there, boy." He chuckled, grinning from ear to ear. Naruto just gawked at him in confusion. The old man laughed even louder as he continued along his way.

* * *

Hinata had never felt so content; cradled in the branches of a tall tree as it gently swayed backward and forward in the wind. She snuggled in closer to its trunk. It felt so warm and soft somehow. She wanted to just lie here forever, but something kept tugging at her mind. She was sure there was something important that she needed to do, something she wanted to do. Her half conscious mind tried to grasp what it was that was so important. It would have been easier to think if something wasn't jabbing her in the side. Then it came to her. "Naruto."

The boy stopped in his tracks. "Hinata, you awake?" They hadn't gone far since he'd started carrying her.

Groggily, she opened her eyes. 'Is this a dream?' she thought as she realised what was happening to her. If it was a dream, she didn't ever want to wake up. How many times had she imagined being carried in his arms?

"You had me worried there." His voice held a mix of concern and relief. "Just relax. I'll take you back to the hospital."

"No!" she almost shouted. Heat filled her cheeks. "No... I-I'm fine... really." She couldn't possibly let this chance slip by, no matter how much she wanted to stay there cradled in his arms. "I j-just need to c-catch my breath."

"Oh, okay." Gently, he lowered her onto her feet. "Well, you sure picked the right time to wake up." He pointed a finger over her shoulder with a grin. "My favourite ramen shop. That's if you're sure you're up to it."

"Yes, I'm sure." She nodded vigorously. She imagined she would still have said yes, even if she'd been at death's door.

'So it's finally happened,' Iruka thought to himself happily, as he made his way through Konoha's streets. 'He's made it to chunin, after working so hard for so long. And I'd bet my headband that I know just where he's going to be tonight.' He chuckled to himself. He turned the corner toward Ichiraku's, but stopped short half way. 'Wait a minute, he's already with someone; and it's... a _girl_?' Iruka's eyes widened as he took in the scene. Naruto, sitting at Ichiraku's, talking, laughing, and joking, with a young woman in a lavender jacket. 'Well well, looks like Naruto's growing up faster than I thought.' A smirk spread across his face as he slipped into the shadows and made his way closer. 'I wonder who the lucky girl is.'

"Here you go, Naruto. The first bowl's on the house, for you and your... _friend_."

"Thanks, old man." Naruto didn't seem to notice the emphasis that the owner placed on the word _friend_, or the way he and his daughter were giggling behind their backs.

Hinata, on the other hand, was acutely aware of the attention they were receiving. She could barely summon a polite smile as the steaming bowl was placed in front of her.

"So, are you two celebrating Naruto's promotion? Or are you here for another reason?" Ayame asked, with a cheeky smile.

Hinata's face turned ten shades redder at the obvious implication.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, around a mouthful of noodles. "Of course we're here to celebrate my promotion."

Ayame giggled. "What, just the two of you? Didn't you invite anyone else along?"

Naruto shrugged. "Actually, we just sort of ran into each other, and I thought I'd invite her along."

"Oh, you just 'ran into each other' huh?" She eyed each of the teenagers in turn. "What a coincidence. Are you sure you didn't run into each other on purpose?"

Naruto just goggled at her, while Hinata tried her best to hide behind her bowl.

"Okay, Ayame, that's enough," old man Teuchi said. "Why don't you go wash some dishes, so they can eat their ramen in peace?"

Ayame sighed, but her smile didn't falter. "Okay, dad." She gave the teenagers a wave before disappearing into the back of the shop. "Have fun, you two."

It was taking all of Hinata's strength of will to keep her mind from turning down the path that Ayame had so clearly presented. Having _'fun'_with Naruto was the last thing she needed to think about if she wanted to stay conscious.

Naruto happily drained the contents of his bowl. "Hit me again, old man," he called to the chef. Then he noticed Hinata's bowl, sitting in front of her, untouched. "What's the matter, Hinata? Did the old man get your order wrong or something?"

"Oh, n-no it's not that." The girl shook her head vigorously. She looked down into the steaming broth and inhaled its spicy scent. A faint rumble from her stomach told her just how hungry she actually was. "E-everything's fine, really. This looks delicious." There was something calming about the aroma. She snapped her chopsticks apart and took another deep breath of it. "Thank you for the food." She said, and started eating.

Hinata wasn't sure if it was because of the ramen, but she quickly began to feel more relaxed. She listened as Naruto gave his (clearly exaggerated) version of how he'd completed the final exam, while he emptied three more bowls. Then he asked the girl about her own chunin exams, and she somehow managed to tell him all about them. She was ashamed to admit that it had taken her three tries in the end, until Naruto reminded her that it had taken him that many tries just to graduate from the academy. She could hardly believe all this was happening. This was the first time she'd actually had a real, normal conversation with him. It was a simple thing, to sit and talk with another person. But for her, to be sitting and talking with him was like a wonderful waking dream.

'Hinata Hyuuga?' If Iruka could hardly believe his eyes before, now he was ready to pinch himself. Naruto Uzumaki, the boy everyone rejected, even hated, was on a date with Hinata Hyuuga, heiress to the most powerful clan in the hidden leaf village. What on earth would people think? More importantly, what was her father, Lord Hiashi, going to think? 'Boy, Naruto, you always were good at getting into trouble,' Iruka shook his head silently as he stared at the young couple, 'but this may just be the biggest mess you've ever gotten yourself into.'

After a moment, though, Iruka just smiled to himself and shrugged. 'Well, they should at least be allowed to enjoy it for now. I guess I can congratulate him on becoming a chunin, tomorrow.'

But as Iruka turned to leave the two in peace, he spotted something coming down the street toward them, and knew that their evening was about to become anything but peaceful.

"HEY, BOSS!" An eager young voice called out. Naruto and Hinata both turned to face the three young ninja as they burst in through the curtain. "Boss, boss, congratulations, boss!" the boy with the long scarf shouted, grinning from ear to ear "I just knew you'd make it to chunin this time, boss, you're the best!"

"Oh thanks, Konohamaru." Naruto returned the boys grin and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"We saw all your matches in the final competition, didn't we guys? You were so cool. Like when you... huh...?" The kid trailed off as he suddenly noticed Hinata. "Hey, who's this?"

"Oh, this is Hinata. Hinata, this is Konohamaru. He's the third Hokage's grandson."

"And soon to be the seventh Hokage!" the kid proudly announced.

"Not until I'm done being the sixth," Naruto retorted, as he forcefully ruffled the boy's hair.

Hinata giggled as she watched the two of them roughhouse. Then suddenly she became aware that another of the young trio was staring at her. She turned her attention to the cute little girl with rosy cheeks.

"Wow, she's really pretty," Moegi said, with a shy giggle. "Is she your girlfriend, Naruto?"

The two teenagers froze. Silence descended upon the group, broken only by a few muffled choking sounds from Konohamaru as he tried to free himself from Naruto's headlock. Naruto slowly turned to face Moegi, then Hinata. "G-g-girlfriend...?" Naruto stuttered as he locked eyes with her. Silence reigned for another moment as the two simply stared at each other, their faces growing redder by the second.

"GIRLFRIEND! I never said she was my girlfriend!" Naruto insisted. He dumped Konohamaru to the floor and waved his hands frantically in denial. "I was just... and she... and then we... so I... and... and..."

"Hey, wait a minute..." Konohamaru said, hopping to his feet. "I thought you liked that bossy pink haired girl with the huge forehead."

"Huh… you mean Sakura?"

Hinata tensed. 'What? He likes... Sakura?'

"Yeah that's her." Konohamaru continued. "You told us you liked her, years ago before you left with that weird old man."

'No... that can't be true.' A cold shiver ran down Hinata's spine.

"I thought _she_ was supposed to be your girlfriend," the boy concluded.

Hinata froze. Her heart fell into her knees. She felt moisture well up behind her eyes as she stared at him, silently begging him to deny what had been said. 'She can't be. No, please say it's not true.'

Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head again. "Well uh... I guess I did kinda say that, yeah."

Hinata's heart shattered. The tears burst forth as the words she'd been dreading sank in. She couldn't stand hearing any more. She wanted to get away, to hide, to curl up somewhere that nobody would ever find her. Turning her back on him, she ran out into the night.

"Huh... Hinata, hey where are you g..." Naruto stared after her, dumfounded.

"Hey she left her things behind." Said Udon, spying the pack she'd left next to her seat.

Another figure chose this point to step in from the shadows. "Nice going there Naruto," He droned sarcastically.

Naruto turned to regard the newcomer. "Huh...? Iruka sensei?"

"So are you going to go after her or what?"

"Uh, go after her? Why, what for?" Naruto stared at him, wearing a confused look.

Ayame re-emerged from the back room and directed a sour look at the young man. "Oh come on, Naruto. Couldn't you tell there was something wrong with her?" She scolded, slapping him across the back of the head with a dish cloth for added emphasis. "Anyone could see how hurt she is?"

A look of realisation suddenly sprang onto the boy's face. "Oh no, you're right! I can't let her run off like that!"

Smiles of relief spread across Iruka and Ayame's faces. They were short lived.

"She just got out of the hospital. She's supposed to be taking it easy." Franticly, Naruto scooped up her pack and sped off after her.

"Naruto, that's not what... ugh," Iruka groaned as he watched him disappear around the corner. "Just when I thought he was starting to grow up."

Ayame sighed heavily. "Well, that's Naruto for you."

"Hey boss, wait urk...!"

"Hold it right there Konohamaru," Iruka said firmly, as he gripped the young ninja's scarf. "This is one mission that Naruto needs to handle on his own."

* * *

Hinata didn't know where she was running, nor did she care. She just wanted to get away from him, from everyone, from everything. Her wound flared with pain from the running, but she barely noticed. The pain in her heart was a thousand times worse. She ran through Konoha's streets, her eyes overflowing. All she wanted to do was run and hide, as she'd done so many times, find a place where nobody could see her and let the tears carry away her pain.

She kept on running, beyond the last of the houses and into the trees. Soon she found herself in a clearing. Through eyes blurred with tears she recognised the three wooden logs of the old training grounds. Gasping for breath between the sobs she curled up with her back against one, and buried her face in her knees.

'How could I be so foolish? How could I miss it? He's liked Sakura this whole time, since before he left to train.' She sobbed uncontrollably as the tears ran in rivers down her face. 'I should've known from the start. They're on the same team; together all the time.'

Hinata shivered as an icy wind blew in. The last faint glow of twilight faded, leaving her sitting in cold empty darkness, the moon and stars hidden behind a veil of cloud.

'Of course he likes Sakura, why wouldn't he? She's so kind and pretty and confident.' The freezing wind began to seep through the bandages and into her wound, chilling her to the core. 'She's nothing like me. She's strong and brave, like him, but I'm so weak and shy and fearful. I'll never be like her. I'll never be good enough for him.'

Hinata rocked back and forth, clutching her abdomen, shivering as the cold spread through her. A distant peal of thunder heralded the approach of rain.

'Aw man, a storm's coming.' Naruto sped through the woods, his keen eyes following the trail of footprints. 'I've gotta find her quick, before we both get soaked.'

He paused for breath as the trail led him out of the trees. 'Man, it's dark out here and cold too.' He shivered as a gust of wind whipped past. 'I still don't get why she ran off like that. And why would she come here?' peering out into the darkness he made out the familiar shape of the three wooden logs. 'Hey, the old training grounds. This is where we talked that time before my match with Neji.' His mind turned back to the memories he had from three years ago. 'She'd always seemed so weird before, but after what she said I realised what a nice person she was.' He strained his eyes to pierce the darkness around him. 'I remember her standing right over...' just then he noticed a faint sound coming right from where he was looking, his eyes made out a figure curled up against one of the logs. "Hinata!"

Hinata jumped as she heard someone calling her name. She turned to face them but immediately turned away again when she realised who it was.

"Hinata, hey, Hinata." He ran over but stopped short when he saw her turn. "Uh, Hinata, are you okay?"

She couldn't bear the thought of answering him.

"Hinata?" He crouched beside her and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. She recoiled from his touch. 'What's wrong with her?' he thought. 'It's like she's afraid of me.' Then he spotted the faint sparkle of moisture on her cheek. "What's wrong, have you been crying?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hold back the tears. She didn't want anyone to follow her, him least of all. She just wanted to hide herself away and cry.

He could see the pained expression on her face. "Oh man, your wound. You must be really hurt. Do you need some help?" Again she gave no answer. "Aw, I wish Sakura was here, I'm sure she could help you."

That name on his lips. Was it really true? She had to know for sure. "S-Sakura," she forced out the words, barely keeping the tears at bay. "Is she r-really your g-girlfriend?"

"My girlfriend?" He grinned sheepishly and forced a chuckle "Well that _is_ what I said."

Hinata felt all the pain and sorrow welling up inside her again. 'So it is true.'

But his laugh soon faded into a sigh. "But I guess it's not really the truth. I mean I like her and all but... she's not really interested in me like that, I guess."

Hinata's eyes snapped open. 'What... she doesn't like him?' She fixed her gaze on the ground, still not willing to look into his face. 'What does that mean?'

"Uh, I could probably go find her if you need some help."

She shook her head weakly.

Again thunder rolled in the distance as the rain grew closer. "Hey, Hinata, we'd better not stay out here much longer. We'll both freeze if we don't get under cover." He stood, and held out a hand. "Come on, let me walk you home."

She hesitated at first, but she knew he was right. At least at home she could curl up in her warm bed. She took his hand and let herself be lifted to her feet. Another freezing gust whipped around them. She hugged herself tight, trying to keep the cold at bay. Clenching her eyes shut against the wind, she found herself shivering uncontrollably.

"Here," he said as he slipped something around her shoulders, "looks like you need this."

She looked to find it was his trademark black and orange jacket. "B-but... you..."

"I'll be fine," he said, though he shivered himself as the wind picked up again. "Don't worry. You need it more than I do."

She felt guilty taking it, but it felt so warm. She pulled it tight around herself as they slowly made their way back to the lights and shelter of the village.

The streets were beginning to clear as night set in. The two made their way toward the Hyuuga mansion in silence.

More than once the boy turned to say something but stopped short, mouth hanging open, when he saw the sorrow and depression in her pale lavender eyes. 'Aw man, how can I cheer her up?' he puzzled 'I just wish I knew what the problem was. She seemed fine back at Ichiraku's, so what went wrong?'

Hinata walked alongside him, head down, eyes firmly on the path in front of her. 'He likes her, but she doesn't like him. Maybe if he knew, then he might... No, I can't! What if he doesn't like me too? What if he just laughs at me?'

'Did I say something, or do something, to make her cry? Maybe I should say sorry, but what for?'

'I couldn't stand it if he laughed at me and thought I was stupid for liking him. I'd just want to die if he said he doesn't like me.'

'Maybe it was really just her injuries. So then what would Sakura or Grandma Tsunade do?'

'But when we talked all those years ago, back at the training grounds, he said that he likes people like me.'

'Well I guess they would... No way, I can't do that!'

'After all, isn't never knowing just as bad?'

The first trickle of rain began to fall as they approached the wall surrounding Hinata's home. They took shelter under an awning near the gate. To both it seemed like an eternity as they stood facing each other, both reluctant to make eye contact. Naruto handed over her pack; she took it without a word.

The boy shuffled back and forth. 'C'mon I gotta say something.' The girl was just staring at the ground between them. Finally he spoke. "Hinata, I'm sorry I... uh..." he trailed off, scratching his head, trying to think of something better to say. "I... I hope you feel better soon," he offered, but she didn't answer. The boy didn't know what else to do. He only had one idea left. 'I guess I can't screw it up any more than I already have.' He swallowed hard. 'Well, here goes.'

'I have to say it,' thought Hinata. 'I have to find out now, or I might never get another chance.' She took a deep breath and slowly lifted her gaze to meet his. "N-Naruto..." but the words caught in her throat.

He stepped in closer, his hand reached out to brush aside her hair. Eyes closed, he leaned in toward her and gently pressed his lips against her forehead.

Hinata's heart was doing back-flips. Her body turned to stone. Her face felt like it was on fire. She stared wide eyed into nothing, as her mind tried to comprehend what was happening.

'What am I doing?' Naruto quickly took a step back, his face flushed. He'd never felt so uncomfortable in his life. "Uh, well g-gotta go. Bye, Hinata." And with that he dashed off into the night.

"I... I..." Hinata stood frozen as the boy faded into the darkness. "I... lo..." All her strength melted away, her eyes went dark. She barely noticed herself falling as she silently breathed the words. "I... love... you."

* * *

Authors Note: This story has already been published, by me, on deviantART. I did not steal this. Check my dA account if you don't believe me.


	2. Complications

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 2:

The rain was getting heavier as the boy leapt from rooftop to rooftop on his way home. 'What was I thinking? I can't believe I did that!' His cheeks were still burning at the thought of what had happened just a few moments ago. He barely noticed the freezing wind as it whipped around him. 'She must think I'm totally weird, I mean she just stood there staring right through me.' Soon his apartment building emerged out of the darkness. He made the last jump, landing in front of his doorway. 'I just hope I don't run into her anytime soon; it would be so awkward,' he thought, as he opened the door and stepped in.

He locked the door behind him, shook some of the water out of his hair and moved to take off his jacket, only to realise he wasn't wearing it. Confusion turned to panic when he suddenly remembered where it was. 'Aw great, she still has my jacket!' He slumped his shoulders and groaned, realising he was going to have to see her again a lot sooner than he would like.

* * *

The first rays of dawn filtered through the curtains stirring Hinata from her slumber. She didn't want to wake up. She'd been having the most wonderful dream... or was it a dream?

She awoke with a start. She was in her room, lying in her own bed, but something didn't quite feel normal. She sat up and pulled back the covers to find that she was still wearing her clothes from the night before. Her heart fluttered and her cheeks warmed as the memories came flooding back. 'It really happened! He really... _kissed me!_' Gingerly she touched her forehead. She could almost feel it still; the gentle caress of his soft lips.

Stumbling out of bed, she made her way to her vanity mirror. She looked terrible. Her hair was dirty, her clothes were wrinkled, and her face was still stained with tears. The girl spent the next hour in a daze as she bathed and dressed, unable to think about anything other than the night before... and him. She barely even noticed the wound in her side; the pain eclipsed by the memory of that one beautiful moment.

Once again it was a knock at the door that jolted her back into reality. She opened it to find her cousin, Neji, standing in the hallway.

"Good morning, Lady Hinata."

"G-good morning," she squeaked in reply, half hiding behind the door. He rarely used her official title, and something about it made her uncomfortable.

"I hope you are feeling well today." He fixed her with a penetrating stare. She nodded, trying to retreat further behind the door. "Good, I was afraid you may have caught a cold. After all it was rather unpleasant out there last night when I found you lying unconscious in the street." Hinata tensed. "Would you mind explaining to me what you were doing out there?"

She squirmed under his gaze, blushing uncontrollably as she tried to come up with a reasonable answer. "Well... I... I m-must have... p-passed out," she mumbled.

"Hmm... your injuries must be rather serious then," he said with a raised eyebrow. "I suppose I should leave you to rest."

"Th-thank you, Neji." She inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to leave.

"Oh, one more thing." He quickly turned back to face her. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to explain this?" he asked in mock confusion as he pulled something out from behind his back.

Hinata gasped, covering her mouth as she recognised the familiar black and orange jacket in her cousin's hand... _his_ jacket! She knew there was no way around it. She'd never been very good at lying, especially to her supremely perceptive cousin, so she told the truth. "Um... I... I ran into N-Naruto, and... he w-walked me home. I-it was cold, so..." Her words faded to a mumbled whisper. She didn't dare tell her cousin about the other thing Naruto had given her.

"So he gave you his jacket? How generous of him." A rather disturbing smile crept across Neji's usually serious face. "I shall have to... _thank _him, for his kindness the next time I see him." He began flexing his fingers deliberately. "In fact, why don't I go and return this to him right now?"

"No!" she squeaked, snatching the jacket from his hand. "Th-thank you, but I... I can return it to him myself."

Neji continued to smile in a disturbingly knowing fashion. "Very well then, I'll leave it to you, Lady Hinata. Although you really should wait until you're feeling better." His smile spread even wider. "Of course if I should happen to run into him before then, I will be sure to show him my... _gratitude_."

Hinata bit her lip as he turned and began making his way down the hall. 'Did he see us last night? What if anyone else knows?' An all consuming feeling of dread came over her. 'Oh no! What if my father knows?'

"Uh, N-Neji?" she called after him. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Um, did you say anything to my f-father?"

He paused for a moment, then his expression softened somewhat. "I didn't think it was necessary to trouble Lord Hiashi with such a... trivial matter. Good day, Lady Hinata." He flashed a knowing yet comforting smile, before continuing on his way.

Hinata shut her door, leant back against it and breathed a huge sigh of relief. She hugged the jacket close to her. 'Smells like ramen,' she thought with a giggle. 'Smells like him.'

* * *

Naruto pushed aside the empty ramen cup and stared out the window. 'Looks like it's still pretty cold out there,' he thought with a sigh. 'I'm going to freeze without my jacket.' The boy rubbed his eyes and tried to shake off some of the drowsiness. He'd barely slept. He just couldn't stop thinking about it, trying to figure it all out. Why she'd ran off, why he'd kissed her, and just what on earth he was going to say the next time he saw her.

'Just what is the deal with her, anyway?' he pondered as he gazed off into nothing. 'She's always so quiet and shy, always fidgeting and looking the other way. And last night she ran off and hid and didn't want to talk to me. It's like... like she's afraid of me.'

He felt a sudden weight in the pit of his stomach. 'That's it.' He held his head in his hands as realisation struck him. 'That must be it. She's afraid of me, just like everyone else.'

He heard a knock at his front door "Hey, Naruto, you awake yet?" a familiar voice called out.

The boy dragged himself out of his chair, yawning. "That you, Iruka Sensei?" He pulled the door open to see his old teacher standing there with a sly grin on his face. "Hey, uh what's up?"

"Well I thought I'd come over and congratulate you on passing the chunin exam."

"Oh thanks, Iruka Sensei." he yawned again. "Come on in."

"Long night?" Iruka asked with a raised eyebrow, still grinning as he stepped inside.

"Uh yeah, kinda. Hey what's that?" he asked groggily when he noticed the package in Iruka's hand.

"Well I missed your last few birthdays while you were away with Master Jiraiya, and this is a special occasion, so..." Iruka handed him the large gift wrapped bundle.

"A present?" Naruto suddenly perked up. "Thanks, Iruka Sensei." He began furiously tearing at the wrapping. His jaw dropped when he saw what was inside.

"Now that you're a chunin, you get to wear one of these," Iruka said proudly. "I figured green wasn't your colour, so I had this one custom made for you."

A smile spread its way across Naruto's face as he held it in his hands; a mat black ninja tactical vest, with orange flame design on the back. "It's just like yours and Kakashi Sensei's," he beamed, "only cooler! This is awesome, Iruka Sensei." He slipped it on and moved around to test the feel of it.

"Looks good on you," Iruka commented. Then his smirk returned. "So, how'd it go last night?"

"Huh?" Naruto paused and gave him a puzzled look. "How'd what go?"

"You know," Iruka nudged him in the ribs, "you and Miss Hyuuga. You did fix things up with her, didn't you?"

"Oh, you mean Hinata. Well I walked her home... and then... uh..." he trailed off, scratching his head sheepishly.

"And then..." Iruka leaned forward expectantly.

He slumped forward. "I did something kinda... stupid."

The smirk quickly dropped from Iruka's face. "You blew it, didn't you," he droned.

"I think she's afraid of me," the boy said into his chest.

"Afraid?" Iruka gave him a puzzled look.

"Yeah, you know; the way she's always fidgeting and acting all nervous around me."

'I don't believe it. He still hasn't figured it out.' Iruka rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Naruto, I don't think that's the problem."

"Huh?"

Iruka slapped a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Trust me. She's not afraid of you."

Naruto looked up in puzzlement. "Uh, then why does she act all weird around me?"

The smirk returned to Iruka's face. "That's something you're going to have to figure out on your own." He headed for the door. "Well, I've got a class to teach. See you later, Naruto."

"Hey wait... uh..." He stared after his old teacher, utter confusion written across his face. 'If she's not afraid of me then... Aw man, just what is the deal with her?'

* * *

"Lady Hokage," Shizune stepped into the room. Immediately, Tsunade could tell what it was about from her assistant's tone. "I have the latest casualty reports".

Tsunade sighed. "Alright, let's see them." She rested her temples on her fingers as Shizune placed the report before her. She hated paperwork, everyone knew that. But this was the only kind of paperwork that she truly dreaded. She almost had to force herself to look at the page in front of her. 'Several minor injuries, a handful of serious injuries, three critical... and two dead.'

"At least it's not as bad as last month," Shizune commented half heartedly.

Tsunade ignored her. Two gennin, both killed during the second stage of the chunin exam. "Their files," she said quietly, her voice tinged with sorrow. Shizune handed her the folders. Tsunade opened them both and laid them on her desk. Both on the same team, first time they'd taken the exam. Barely thirteen years old. She studied their pictures, burning their images into her memory, along with their names. She never told anyone, but she made a personal commitment to memorise the names and faces of every single ninja that died under her command as Hokage. "And their team mate?" she asked.

"Critical condition," Shizune noted as she handed her the third folder.

She opened it and checked the photograph. She recognised him as one of those she'd treated personally. With a lot of time and a little luck he would recover, at least physically. But she hated to think of the damage done to his mind after having seen his companions cut down in front of him. Part of her wished that this would be the last battle he would face, that he would give up on being a ninja. But she knew that the village needed every shinobi they could muster.

Tsunade sighed again. "How long have we been doing this, Shizune?"

"Three years, Lady Hokage."

"Feels like thirty," she groaned, massaging her brow. "And at this rate, that's how long it's going to take to bring The Leaf back up to its former strength." She took one last look at the three photographs before closing the folders.

"We're pushing them too hard, Shizune. All of them, all of our shinobi are overworked."

"What else can we do?" Shizune asked with a shrug. "Between Orochimaru, Akatsuki, troubles in the Land of Lightning, and all our other enemies, we just have too many problems and not enough shinobi to cover all of them."

"Well at least we have one new chunin that's worthy of the title," Tsunade said with a weak smile. "Sometimes I almost wish we had more like him." She allowed herself a light chuckle. "Almost..."

* * *

It was still cold as Naruto was making his way through Konoha's streets toward the Hyuuga Mansion. Though despite having no sleeves on it, he found his new vest was surprisingly warm. He was taking his time, something unusual for him. He still needed to get his jacket back from Hinata, but he had no idea what he was going to say when he saw her.

'If she's not afraid of me, then why did she run away?' He'd been trying to figure things out all morning. 'If she was hurt, then why did she run off into the woods and hide?' He walked slowly down the winding paths, hands thrust deep into his pockets.

All too soon, he found himself turning the last corner. The main gate of the Hyuuga manor was just a few yards away. He stopped and looked over to the awning they had sheltered under the previous night. 'Aw great, I'm here already. What am I going to say?' He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the person stepping up behind him.

"Good morning, Naruto."

The blonde almost jumped out of his skin. Spinning around he found a rather serious looking Neji standing just inches away. He paused to catch his breath as the Hyuuga glared at him, arms folded firmly across his chest. "Uh... hey, Neji," Naruto said with a half smile. Something about that look made him very uncomfortable.

Neji continued to glare at him, looking him up and down. He seemed to focus on his vest for a moment before he finally said something. "So... I understand that you have been promoted to chunin... Congratulations." His face remained completely expressionless.

"Uh, yeah... thanks." Naruto scratched his head and looked around, trying to avoid the Hyuuga's cold, piercing eyes.

There was another moment of silence before Neji spoke again. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Naruto swallowed. "Well actually, I was kinda hoping to talk to Hinata."

"Ah yes, of course." His eyes narrowed, and a rather disturbing smile cracked his façade. "Thank you so much for seeing her home from the hospital last night. That was very... _generous_ of you." Naruto shrunk back slightly. "Unfortunately," Neji continued, "Lady Hinata's injuries are quite serious; as I'm sure you are aware. I expect she will not be fit to receive visitors for some time. Perhaps you should leave her to rest for now." He turned to walk past Naruto, toward the gate.

"Uh, wait, I just wanted to..." Naruto stopped short when Neji's Icy stare snapped back to him. He was sure he could see the veins around his eyes starting to bulge. "Uh to... to tell her I uh... hope she gets better soon," he stammered, forcing a laugh.

"I shall be sure to tell Lady Hinata that you stopped by." Neji's disturbing smile returned. "Good day, Naruto."

"Uh yeah, see yah." Naruto gave him a hesitant wave as Neji stepped through the gate and out of sight. 'Man, that was creepy.' The boy hugged himself and shuddered. 'What was going on with him, anyway?' The wind picked up a bit, prickling his whiskered cheeks with cold. He looked down at his new vest. 'Well, I guess I could go without my jacket for a little while.'

* * *

"DAMN IT!" Tsunade roared. The entire office shook as her fist descended forcefully onto her desk. "How the hell could they have gotten away with it?"

"Reports are sketchy at best," Shizune answered from the other side of the office, where she was busy cowering. "Our intelligence in the land of Water has never been that good."

Tsunade growled through her teeth in frustration. "As if we weren't already stretched to our limits..." She took a deep breath in a vain effort to calm herself. "Alright, we need more information and fast. Who do we have available?"

Shizune frantically flicked through the files in her hands. She gulped audibly before answering. "I'm afraid the only unassigned squad is team Kakashi, and this isn't exactly their kind of mission."

"Damn," Tsunade cursed again. "What about team Kurenai, aren't they back yet?"

"They'll be another week at least."

"We need someone with surveillance skills. Team Kakashi was never intended for that role." Tsunade frowned. "Wait, wasn't one member of team Kurenai on medical leave?"

Shizune rummaged through her notes again and soon found the file she was looking for. "Yes, Hinata Hyuuga. She was discharged two weeks ago. But I'm not sure if she's ready for active duty yet."

Tsunade closed her eyes in contemplation for a moment. "Hmm... Alright, summon team Kakashi immediately, and Hinata as well. We'll have to let her decide for herself if she's up to this."

"Yes, Lady Hokage," Shizune nodded before rushing out the door.

'Well,' Tsunade thought, 'I know Naruto will be happy about this. It'll be his first mission as a chunin. It's Hinata that I'm worried about. If she accepts, it'll be her first official A rank mission.'


	3. Resolve

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 3: Resolve

Hinata tried to ignore the slight tingle in her left side; all that remained of the stabbing pain that had been plaguing her just two weeks ago. She rushed through the village streets, hoping she wouldn't be late. 'An urgent summons from the Hokage, what could be so important?' she thought. 'It couldn't be a mission already. My team hasn't returned yet, and I've only just recovered from my surgery.'

She dashed up the steps and through the halls to the Hokage's office. Pausing briefly to catch her breath, she presented herself before the Hokage's assistant.

"Ah, Hinata." Shizune looked up from her work and gestured her forward. "You can go in. They're all waiting for you."

Hinata knocked lightly, and was answered with the Hokage's call to enter. She opened the door and took the first step in, only to freeze when she heard another familiar voice from inside the room.

"C'mon, Grandma Tsunade, what's this all about?" the boy asked impatiently.

'Naruto!' The girl swallowed and took a deep breath before inching herself the rest of the way into the room. "You w-wanted to see me L-Lady Hokage?" she squeaked. The warmth was already rising in her cheeks as she stole a glance to her left. 'It _is_ him!'

The boy lazily turned his attention to the newcomer. 'Hinata!' He tensed, and quickly turned away as all the memories from two weeks ago came flooding back.

"Alright, now that you're all here we can begin," Tsunade stated. "Team Kakashi, Hinata, I have a special mission for the four of you."

'A mission with Naruto!' Hinata kept her eyes firmly on the floor and tried to restrain her beating heart.

"A mission with Hinata!' Naruto felt his mouth go dry. He directed his gaze out the window.

The Hokage continued. "Now this isn't the kind of mission I would normally assign to you, Kakashi, but unfortunately we just don't have anyone more suitable at such short notice."

"Wait," Sakura piped up, "what do you mean 'more suitable'?"

"Allow me to explain," Tsunade sighed. "Less than an hour ago, we received a rather disturbing report from the Land of Water." Naruto and Hinata managed to refocus their attention when Tsunade's tone became serious. "Now our information is sketchy at best, but we have been reliably informed that that both the Mizukage and Feudal Lord of the Land of Water have been assassinated."

A wave of surprise and shock passed over the other occupants of the room.

"Both the Mizukage _and_ the Feudal Lord?" Sakura said in astonishment. "But that could mean..."

"Yes," Tsunade finished her sentence for her, "an attempted coup d'état; that is the most likely explanation."

"Coop de what?" Naruto asked with a look of confusion plastered on his face.

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "It means, someone tried to take over by killing the people in charge, idiot!"

"Oh..." He scratched his head. "Then who's in charge now?"

"That's what I'm sending you to find out, among other things," Tsunade answered him. "Your mission is to gather information in the Land of Water. I want to know who assassinated the Feudal Lord and Mizukage, and why, who, if anyone, is in charge now and what are their plans."

"Hmm, I can see why you wouldn't normally assign this mission to my squad," said Kakashi. "Surveillance and covert information gathering isn't exactly our area of expertise."

"I know," Tsunade breathed, resting her head on her fingers. "Normally I would assign this kind of mission to ANBU black ops. But unfortunately we just don't have the man power, and we can't afford to wait around until it becomes available. Now I understand that your team isn't exactly intended for surveillance, Kakashi, so that's why I've requested Hinata to join you."

Hinata looked up, somewhat surprised. "Requested?"

She turned her attention to the young Hyuuga. "That's right, Hinata. I know that you are still recovering from your wound, so I'm giving you the choice of whether or not you want to take this mission." Tsunade fixed the girl with a serious look. "Now let me make this clear. This is an A ranked mission; your first I believe. You'll be working with an unfamiliar team, and you will undoubtedly encounter enemy ninja. While your abilities would be a great asset, I don't want you to feel pressured into this. If you are not absolutely sure that you are up to it, you have the choice to decline."

'An A ranked mission!' Hinata's mind raced. She felt the fear rise within her. The fear of failing her companions; of standing by helplessly as they were forced to protect her; of watching them suffer because she was too weak to do her duty. The fear of being worthless.

She felt all eyes in the room on her. Slowly she turned to look at them. Her gaze fell on the boy with the golden hair. For an instant their eyes met, and in that brief moment she made her decision.

'I won't fail him. I won't stand by while they suffer. I am not worthless!'

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then turned back to The Hokage with a look of firm resolution etched on her gentle face. "I'll do it."

* * *

"Okay, let's get moving." Kakashi took point as the four shinobi leapt up into the trees. "We're heading for a small fishing port on the coast. We can find a ship there to take us to the Land of Water."

Hinata was barely listening. Despite her brave words earlier, she was now starting to consider the full implications of working with Naruto again. They'd been on a few missions together in the past, but that had been with her team. She'd known Shino, Kiba and Kurenai Sensei for years now, and she was comfortable with them. But with these three...

She looked ahead at the Jonin leading the group. He looked kinda creepy to her, with most of his face hidden behind a mask. Not that she wasn't used to people who covered their faces, Shino being a prime example. But she had never been comfortable around strangers, and one who hid his face was even worse.

Then her attention turned to Sakura. Her heart sank a little. No wonder Naruto liked her. With her candy pink hair and vibrant green eyes, she always stood out in a crowd. Even when surrounded by other pretty girls, nobody could miss her. While Hinata, with her dark hair and cold, pale eyes, just seemed to blend into the background.

Sakura turned her head to face her for a moment and gave her a friendly smile. Hinata returned the smile politely, before looking away. She was so kind and caring. How could he not like her? How could anyone not like her?

Inevitably her gaze fell upon him. He was wearing a black vest that she'd never seen him in before. It left his arms showing, and she couldn't help but stare. Hinata could tell she was blushing as she watched him move through the trees. He moved with such purpose, forcefully launching himself from branch to branch, always looking ahead toward his goal, never dwelling on the past. Or at least that's what she thought.

Naruto fixed his eyes on the path ahead, not daring to look back at the dark haired girl behind him. He'd managed to get through the past two weeks without running into her. But now they were on a mission together, there was no way he could avoid her. He was going to have to talk to her eventually, and he still had no idea what he was going to say. He tried to focus his attention on the trees, boosting himself from one branch to the next, trying to go further with each leap. But as hard as he tried, he couldn't forget she was there.

Inevitably, he found himself looking back over his shoulder, only to find her looking right back at him. He quickly snapped his head forward, a slight tingle in his cheeks.

Hinata quickly looked away when he turned back toward her, but she knew it wasn't quick enough. 'Oh no, he saw me staring at him.'

'Oh man, she's looking at me. She thinks I'm weird. She's staring at me like I'm some kind of freak.'

'Should I smile at him, like Sakura? Should I try to say something?'

'What could I do that wouldn't make me look stupid? What could I say to her?'

'Is he still looking at me? He might think it's strange if I don't look back.'

'Was she really staring at me? I guess it wouldn't hurt to look.'

Slowly, the two teens turned back to face each other.

Hinata's blush deepened as their eyes met again. She tried to think of something to say, but her breath caught in her throat.

Naruto tensed when he saw her looking at him, her eyes wide and face red, mouth hanging half open. He couldn't think of anything to say to her. He could only grin sheepishly and wave.

Hinata managed to smile weakly at him when he flashed his trademark grin. But she quickly shied away again, her cheeks even redder than before.

Naruto's heart sank when he saw her turn away. 'Maybe Iruka sensei was wrong. Maybe she is afraid of me.'

* * *

Hinata was growing weary after almost two days of hard travel, stopping only to eat and sleep. Then, finally, their destination came into view. From the crest of a hill they overlooked the small fishing port Kakashi had mentioned. A half dozen large ocean going ships and countless smaller fishing vessels crowded the docks.

"Okay, here's where we go undercover," Kakashi announced.

"Huh, already?" Naruto looked puzzled. "But we're not even in the Land of Water yet."

"Enemy spies could be anywhere," Kakashi said in a low voice. "It's unlikely that they'd be watching a small port like this, but you never know. If anyone spots us boarding a ship bound for the Land of Water, we could find a convoy of mist ninja waiting for us when we get there." He removed his pack and began rummaging through it. "We'll have to hide any indication that we're Leaf ninja, or any kind of ninja for that matter." He pulled out his waterproof cloak, and a strip of white bandage. He then proceeded to remove his vest. "You'd better put yours away too, Naruto, that chunin vest is a dead giveaway; and your headband too."

"What!" Naruto protested. "I don't wanna take off my headband. I finally become a chunin after all these years, and now you want me to take off, not just my new chunin vest, but my headband too."

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, this is a covert surveillance mission. If you wear that headband you may as well carry around a sign saying 'Leaf Village spy.'" He removed his own headband and replaced it with the bandage. "I'm not asking you to throw it away or anything. Just put it somewhere out of sight."

Naruto just pouted.

"Oh come on, Naruto," Sakura growled, slipping off hers. "Stop acting like such a little kid."

The boys face contorted with anger and frustration as he roughly jerked off the headband. "You don't understand," he mumbled under his breath.

Hinata understood.

She knew what that headband meant to him. She knew it meant years of suffering and hardship; years of enduring the taunts and insults of his classmates; sweat, and pain, and tears; and all of it suffered alone. That headband meant that all of it had been worth it; that he had succeeded where everyone had said he would fail. It was proof that he was worth something.

Hinata knew exactly what he was feeling as she slowly untied her own headband. She had suffered too. She hadn't really thought about it that way before, but when she looked at the leaf symbol engraved on the polished metal plate, she realised how much that headband meant to her. She had worked so hard to become a ninja, to prove herself, to be acknowledged, just like him.

Soon they were all ready. Kakashi wore his neutral grey rain cloak, the collar pulled up high to cover his face. For a moment Hinata was reminded of Shino.

Naruto's cloak was similar, but black with orange trim.

Sakura wore a white poncho and had her hair tied back with a white ribbon. Her gloves and elbow guards were stashed away in her pack.

Hinata found she had to change little to blend in. With her headband and shuriken holster packed away, there was little that could have marked her out as a ninja. Only her eyes gave any indication that something was amiss. She pulled her hood over as far as she could and kept her head low.

Kakashi looked them all over one last time, lingering on a rather irritated Naruto, before finally nodding in approval. "Alright, let's go. Everyone stay close and try to blend in. If anyone stops us, let me do all the talking."

With that they made their way onto the road and down into the village.

* * *

The three young ninja stood near the edge of the docks in silence while the sun made its passage below the hills, casting a saffron glow upon the water before them.

"The Land of Water, huh?" Naruto breathed, as he stared across the horizon.

"Gonna be a real mess over there," Sakura said, quietly. "It's kinda weird, actually. Place will probably be crowded with refugees trying to get out, while we're trying to get in."

"Refugees?" Naruto asked.

"The innocent victims, trapped in the middle of all this political upheaval," she answered. "Regardless of who takes power or how they get there, a lot of people are gonna get caught in the crossfire."

"I wish there was something we could do to help them when we get there," Hinata said sadly, "but I guess we couldn't risk blowing our cover."

Naruto just frowned and continued looking out across the water.

The group fell silent again.

The sky matched the water's orange glow as the fading sun slipped further behind them. Hinata would have thought it beautiful had she not been too busy worrying about the mission ahead. She still got butterflies before every mission, and this one was even worse than usual. Not only was this her first A rank mission, but it was with him.

She stole a glance at him. The sinking sun seemed to set his golden hair aflame, and his brilliant blue eyes sparkled even more than usual as they reflected the rippling water. She quickly turned away again, and hoped that the orange glow of dusk would hide her crimson cheeks.

"I've found our ship," said Kakashi as he approached, breaking them out of their thoughts. "C'mon, we're leaving now."

The group followed him along the docks to one of the larger sailing vessels.

"The captain's someone we can trust, so we shouldn't have any problems with our cover," Kakashi said, "But none the less, we should keep to ourselves during the voyage. Sailors aren't known to be good at keeping secrets."

Hinata watched from the deck as the Land of Fire gradually faded away behind them. Soon she remembered how tired she was, and made her way to the cabin. She drifted off to sleep to the sound of lapping waves, and dreamed again about the golden haired boy with the sparkling blue eyes.


	4. Friendship

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 4: Friendship

Hinata awoke the following morning, her body aching from head to toe. The others had set a punishing pace the previous two days, and now it was all catching up with her. Not that aches and pains were unfamiliar to her. She'd trained herself to exhaustion countless times before, just like him.

She opened her eyes to see Sakura still asleep in the bunk across from her. Hinata rose quietly, so as not to wake the pink haired girl, and began stretching out her tired muscles as best she could in their rather cramped cabin. A slight twinge of pain caught her in the side, and she stopped her stretching routine to check on her injury. She stepped over to the mirror on the wall and lifted her night shirt to inspect it.

Sakura stirred from her slumber. "Good morning," she yawned.

"Good morning, Sakura," Hinata replied without turning from the mirror.

Sakura rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes and sat up. "Is it still bothering you?" she asked, seeing Hinata inspecting her side.

"No, i-it's fine. At least I think it's healing alright," the young Hyuuga said, uncertain.

Sakura hopped out of bed and stepped over to take a closer look. "Here, let me see." Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw what remained of the once grievous injury. What, just a few weeks ago, had been a life threatening wound was now just a thin red line streaked across Hinata's pale skin. "That's amazing," Sakura gasped. "I can't believe it's healed so fast. Were you receiving special treatment or something?"

Hinata was somewhat taken aback. "Um, n-no. I was just using some of my ointment on it."

"Ointment?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hinata nodded. "I have some here, I'll show you." She searched through her pack, produced a small jar, and handed it to the pink haired girl.

Sakura opened the jar and examined the contents. She sniffed the fragrant smelling concoction and rubbed some between her fingers. She paused to think, as the familiar smell brought back memories. "Wait, I've seen this before. Yeah, didn't you give some of this stuff to Naruto during the chunin exams a few years back?"

Hinata went slightly pink as she too recalled the brief encounter. "Um, y-yes, that's right."

"Well it sure seemed to work on him," Sakura mused "Hey, where do you get this stuff from, anyway?"

Hinata began fidgeting with her fingers, unsure of how Sakura would react to her reply. "Um, I um... made it," she mumbled.

"Really?" Sakura asked, both surprised and impressed. "I didn't know you were a medical ninja."

Hinata shook her head and started looking at her feet. "I'm not. I studied medicine for a while, but I had to give it up."

"Why? It looks like you might have some talent for it," Sakura commented as she took another whiff of the girl's homemade concoction.

Hinata rubbed at her arms and looked away. "F-father said that it was a waste of time for me to learn m-medical ninjutsu," she said with an inward sigh. "H-he said that I should devote all my training time to improving my fighting skills, s-so I wouldn't be so much of a... a w-weakling." A hint of mist formed at the edge of her eyes as memories of her father's scolding came to the surface.

There was a brief moment of silence. Then Sakura forcefully slapped the lid back on the jar of ointment. "Your father is a jerk!" she stated, planting her hands on her hips. "He thinks medical ninjutsu is a waste of time! Humph, I'd like to give him a couple of broken ribs and a nice skull fracture, and then see what he thinks about it!"

Hinata looked up at the pink haired girl in horror. She'd never heard someone speak of her father with anything but the utmost respect.

"Better yet," Sakura continued with a smirk, "maybe I should tell Lady Tsunade how he feels. I'm sure she would love to _educate _him on the necessity of proper medical care."

Hinata could only gape in astonishment. Nobody ever dared to say such things about her father. He was the head of the most powerful clan in the village, and his skills outmatched even the most talented Jonin. He was one of the most influential and respected men in Konoha... wasn't he?

"You know what?" Sakura asked. "You shouldn't worry about what you father says. If you want to learn medical ninjutsu, then you should just go ahead and learn it."

"But... but I c-can't. H-he could..."

"What? It's not like he's gonna disown you or anything," Sakura said sarcastically. Unfortunately, she didn't realise how wrong she was.

It was all Hinata could take. "You don't understand," the girl whimpered. She dropped down onto her bunk and buried her face in her hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" The young medical ninja was answered only with a quiet sobbing. "Hinata, are you crying?" Sakura was shocked that her words could have cut so deep. She sat down beside the indigo haired girl and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what's the matter? Did I say something wrong?"

Hinata just continued to cry for a minute before answering. "My f-father... H-he... he r-really could... d-disown me," she squeaked between sobs. "H-he says I'm... I'm a f-failure... a disgrace... th-that I'm... n-not fit to be his heir."

Sakura silently cursed herself when she realised how insensitive her comment had been. "I'm sorry," she said, slipping her arm around Hinata's shoulder. "I didn't realise that... that it was like that."

The two simply sat there for a few minutes, saying nothing, while Hinata continued to cry. She'd cried over this dozens of times, whenever her father scolded her for her weakness and threatened to cast her aside. But this time Hinata felt different somehow. Normally she didn't want anyone to see her crying. She just wanted to hide herself away, alone in the dark where nobody could see her weakness. But for once, she didn't feel the urge to run away. For once, there was a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. For some reason she didn't feel embarrassed to cry in front of Sakura.

Hinata was close to Shino and Kiba, and she admired and respected Kurenai Sensei. But she'd never quite felt confident enough around them to share her deepest feelings. With Sakura, however, even though she barely knew her, Hinata could tell that she was a person she could trust, even if she couldn't quite figure out why.

Gradually, Hinata felt the sadness slipping away. The reassuring arm around her shoulder reminded her that she wasn't alone for once. She brushed away some of the tears and looked up at the girl beside her. "Sakura, I'm... I'm sorry."

The green eyed girl looked back at her with a gentle smile. "What are you apologising for?"

Hinata wasn't sure how to respond to that question. She was so used to apologising for everything that it just came out.

Sakura squeezed her shoulder. "You don't have to say sorry for anything. I'm the one that made you cry." She held Hinata's gaze. "_I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have said things like that about your family. Do you forgive me?"

Hinata smiled weakly and nodded.

"Okay." She gave her shoulder another squeeze. "But I still say medical ninjutsu is anything but a waste of time. And it certainly won't make you weak if you learn it."

Hinata sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor again. "B-but I still shouldn't."

Sakura frowned. "You know, Hinata, there are different kinds of strength, and different ways to get stronger. It's like Lady Tsunade always tells me: being strong isn't just about being able to hurt people. We med ninja have a special kind of strength, the kind we give to others."

Hinata sniffed, and brushed her face with her shirt sleeve. 'The kind of strength you give to others?' She'd never thought of medicine that way before.

"You know what?" Sakura continued. "I think you would make a great med nin."

Hinata turned her still moist eyes up to face the pink haired girl. "Y-you think so?"

Sakura smiled at her warmly. "You seem like a really nice person to me, and I can tell that you want to help people. For a med nin, that's the most important thing." She paused for a moment, looking at her intently. "Hey, those eyes of yours, they can see peoples chakra, right?"

"Uh... y-yes."

"Hmm, so can they see other things inside people's bodies, like their bones?" she asked. There was an intense, questioning look in her eyes.

"Um, well i-if I try, I can see almost anything inside people," Hinata replied hesitantly.

Sakura's eyebrows sprung up in surprise. "Really? You mean you can see their veins and organs and everything?"

"Well uh, i-it's not easy, but sometimes I can see those things."

Sakura gasped in astonishment. "That's amazing!" she breathed. "Hinata, do you have any idea how useful that would be for a medical ninja? You could tell exactly what was wrong with someone just by looking at them. It would make diagnosis ten times easier. You wouldn't even need any special equipment." She suddenly grabbed Hinata by both shoulders and pulled the girl around to face her. "Hinata, if you could learn to do that, you could become one of the best medical shinobi in the whole village!"

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Me...? One of the best m-medical shinobi in the v-village?"

"You could be better than me!" Sakura declared. "Those eyes are incredible. I can't believe more of your clan don't become med nin."

But once again, the words of her father came back to the young Hyuuga. Hinata turned away. "I can't," she whispered mournfully "We are a clan of warriors. I c-can't go against tradition. M-my f-father would... he would..." she trailed off, trying to hold back the flood of tears that threatened to overwhelm her again.

Sakura sighed. "Hinata, I don't want you to do anything that would get you into trouble. But if you want, I could teach you some basic medical skills. We've got a two day voyage ahead of us, and it's not like you can really practice your fighting skills here on board when we're trying to lay low."

Hinata sniffed back the tears. "I-I don't know." She shook her head slowly. "I've always wanted to learn, b-but if my father found out..."

"And how exactly is he going to find out?" Sakura asked with a sarcastic tone. "You don't need to tell him about it. Just keep it a secret."

"Th-that wouldn't be right," Hinata said sheepishly.

Sakura nudged her arm. "Oh come on. Everybody keeps secrets from their parents. And it's not like you're doing something bad. I mean how could he be angry with you if you saved somebody's life some day?"

Hinata thought about that for a moment. Her team didn't have a properly trained medical ninja. Injuries on missions were common, and sometimes her little jar of ointment wasn't enough. The girl tugged at the hem of her shirt and looked up at the young medical ninja beside her. "Do you p-promise not to tell anyone?"

Sakura smiled. "It'll be our little secret. I promise."

Hinata took a deep breath and smiled in return. "Okay."

The pink haired girl grinned widely. "Alright, let's get cleaned up and find something to eat. Then we'll get started," Sakura said, before giving her a quick hug. "This is going to be fun."

That's when Hinata realised why she felt comfortable sharing her feelings with Sakura. During her time in the hospital, when she'd had hardly any visitors, Sakura had come to see her and talk with her every day. They'd gotten to know each other better than Hinata realised. And somewhere along the line, they'd become friends.

* * *

Naruto lay on his back, staring at the ceiling of his cabin. Thin moonlight washed through the porthole, shedding pale illumination into the tiny room. He cast a glance at his sensei in the other bunk, sound asleep and still wearing his mask. He wondered for a moment if he ever took it off, or whether it was permanently attached to his face. They'd cooped themselves up in this room most of the day to avoid unwanted attention from the ship's crew. Naruto hadn't complained as much as he usually would about being stuck inside with nothing to do. He wasn't keen to attract attention, but it wasn't the crew that he was worried about.

The memories of that night, over two weeks ago now, were still fresh in his mind. He'd almost managed to forget about it after the first few days. But ever since she'd walked into the Hokage's office, three days ago, he hadn't been able to think about anything else.

'What on earth was I thinking?' he asked himself for the hundredth time that night. 'She was just so sad, and I didn't know what to say. She must have been scared out of her mind, the way she was staring into nothing like that.' The thoughts rolled around in his head until it started to hurt.

The air in their cabin seemed heavy and stale. Slowly he slipped out of bed, pulled on his sandals and rain cloak, and crept silently to the door; though apparently not silently enough.

"Don't stay out too long, Naruto." He nearly had a heart attack at the sound of Kakashi's voice. "And you still need to work on your stealth technique," the masked Jonin chided.

Naruto just growled and continued out the door, making his way up on deck in search of fresh air.

A cold sea breeze blew past. Naruto closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The refreshing chill helped to clear his head. He stood there in silence for a few minutes, drawing in the salty sea air. Soon the chill began making its way under his cloak and he felt his warm bunk calling to him. But as he turned, he caught sight of someone standing by the railing on the other side of the ship. A feeling of panic rose within him when he recognised who it was.

Hinata's mind wandered as she watched the clouds drift lazily past a pale half moon. She'd spent the whole day learning the basic principles of medical ninjutsu from Sakura. 'Could I really be better than her someday?' she pondered, as she leant against the rail. She couldn't imagine anyone being better than Sakura. The more Hinata got to know her, the more she realised what an incredible ninja she was. Sakura wasn't just pretty and talented, she was smart too. The pink haired girl seemed to know everything. Hinata felt a sudden pang of depression. 'No wonder Naruto likes her.'

Naruto held his breath, watching her for a moment. 'Okay, I don't think she's seen me yet. I could just quietly go back down below and... Aw c'mon, get it together. You're gonna have to do this some time. Look, there's nobody else around. Let's just get this over with.' He swallowed hard, let his breath out and forced himself to step forward.

"Uh... hey, Hinata."

She jumped. 'Naruto?' Slowly the girl turned to face him. 'He's going to talk to me, what do I say?'

He made his way over to the railing beside her, close enough to speak but still keeping a safe distance. "So uh... what's up?" He forced a smile.

She turned back to face the water, clutching her hands in front of her chest. "Um... n-nothing," she replied, barely above a whisper.

He leant back against the rail, his smile fading. 'Aw great, she's still freaked out about it,' he thought, 'and I still don't know what to say.'

She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks, and was suddenly glad that it was so dark. The memories of that night played over and over in her head. 'Should I say something, or should I wait for him to say something first?' she thought nervously.

'Aw man I knew it would happen; my mind has gone totally blank. C'mon, think! I gotta say something.' He risked a glance over at her.

She caught his eye for a moment and felt herself trembling under his gaze.

His heart sank. 'So I was right. She is afraid of me.'

'He seems so quiet. I've never seen him like this,' she thought.

Silence reigned for what seemed like an eternity, broken only by the rolling murmur of wind and water.

'Well, I guess there's nothing else I can say.' He took one last long breath of cool night air. "Uh... Hinata?"

"Y-yes."

"I uh... about what happened before... I-I'm sorry." His head slumped into his chest.

Hinata looked up in confusion. "S-sorry...? For what?"

He sighed. "You know, a few weeks ago when I... I just wanted to..." He fumbled desperately for the right words.

Hinata felt her pulse quicken. "Um... t-to what?"

Naruto felt a blush rising in his cheeks also. "I just didn't want you to be sad anymore. And I thought that if I just..."

She held a finger up to her lips, nervously, not daring to breathe. 'What...? _What...?_'

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "I never meant to scare you."

Hinata was taken aback. "Scare me?"

"You know, sometimes I do stupid things without thinking them through. And I'm always saying stuff that makes people mad at me. I know that sometimes I shouldn't be so loud and aggressive, but..." a slight quiver entered his voice, "...I just want people to notice me."

She knew exactly what he meant. He felt the same way she did. All her life she'd felt that the only time people noticed her was when she did something wrong; that people only ever saw her flaws and weaknesses. She'd struggled so hard to make herself stronger, so that people would start to notice her for something good, rather than just for being a failure. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to make him realise that she understood, that he wasn't alone. Then out of nowhere the words just came to her. "I-It's alright, Naruto... I know what you mean."

He looked up at her. "Huh...? You do?"

She turned to face him, but didn't dare look him in the eye. "I'm n-not very good at making friends. I d-don't know how to talk to people. I'm afraid that they won't like me, s-so I just don't say anything." She twirled her index fingers, her gaze drifting across the deck. "I j-just want people to notice me, too. I'm afraid that everyone will ignore me, and n-nobody will want to be my f-friend."

Naruto just looked at her for a moment, his mouth half open as he took in what she said. "So... you're not afraid of me?"

She shook her head slightly, still twirling her fingers.

"And you just... want to be my friend?"

She nodded slowly, a hint of a smile playing across her lips.

Naruto felt like a huge weight had just fallen from his shoulders. He smiled back at her, a warm genuine smile. "Hinata, I'd love to be your friend."

Her smile widened, and she finally let herself look into his eyes. "Me too."


	5. Priorities

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 5: Priorities

A driving rain battered the houses of the small port town on the shores of the Land of Water. Thick black clouds obscured the light of the moon and a howling wind whipped at the ships sails. Unseen and unheard, four shadowy figures leapt over the side before dashing across the surface of the water toward the shore. Moving from shadow to shadow, the four shinobi made their way through the empty streets.

"We're here," whispered the silver haired Jonin to the others, before slamming the door knocker three times. All watched their surroundings carefully while they waited for an answer.

The door's spy hole slid open. "Who are you?" a gruff and irritated voice asked.

"I'm here to discuss matters of interest," the one eyed ninja replied.

There was a pause before the voice behind the door responded. "And just what makes you think that I would be interested in such matters?"

"Because they matter to those who take matters into their own hands," Kakashi said cryptically.

The spy hole slid shut. A few tense seconds passed before they heard the sound of two bolts being drawn back. The door opened, shedding yellow light into the dark alleyway. "In, quickly," the old man whispered, gesturing them inside.

* * *

"So what is this place, Sensei?" asked Naruto, brushing water out of his hair.

"It's a safe house. Yano is an informant for the Land of Fire. We can hold up here for a while," Kakashi answered.

"So what's our next move?" Sakura asked, warming her hands by the fire.

Kakashi removed his sodden cloak and took a seat at the small table. "Hopefully Yano can tell us something that'll point us in the right direction. Right now we don't know much of anything."

The door opened and the old man entered, carrying a tea tray. "Here, this should help keep you warm." he placed it on the table and took a seat opposite Kakashi. "You know, I was wondering if someone was going to show up. This country has been in chaos ever since the assassinations."

The other three took their seats around the table. "So what can you tell us?" Kakashi asked.

"Not much I'm afraid," Yano sighed as he poured the tea. "It all happened two weeks ago. The Mizukage and Feudal Lord were both killed on the same night, along with the Lord's entire household."

Sakura frowned. "Then we were right, it must have been a coup d'état."

"Seems that way," replied Yano. "There's a lot of rumours flying around, so it's hard to say what happened exactly. But whoever did this certainly knew what they were doing."

"So who's in charge now?" asked Kakashi.

"Again, I can't tell you much." Yano took a sip of tea before continuing. "I've heard that a new Mizukage took power almost immediately, but I can't be sure if he was the one behind all this. The Hidden Mist Village has been locked up tight since it happened. Nobody gets in unless they're mist ninja."

"What about the Feudal Lord? Has he been replaced?"

"Somebody's been appointed to fill the position, but I can't be sure who, or who by. Though most seem to believe he's just a puppet, put in place by the new Mizukage."

"I can't believe people could just stand by and let this happen," Sakura said indignantly.

"Well it hasn't exactly been cut and dry. A number of mist ninja have rebelled against the new leaders, along with some members of the regular military. They've been labelled as traitors by the new regime, and it's claimed that they were the ones responsible for the assassinations. Of course that's just as likely to be propaganda." The old man shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "For all we know, the coup could have been a failure. With everything in such a mess, it's hard to tell fact from fabrication."

Kakashi's one visible eyebrow furrowed. "That's not a lot to go on."

Yano sighed again. "Sorry I can't tell you more, but out here we're a little out of the loop. All the news coming from the capital tends to be mixed up with a whole lot of rumour and hearsay by the time it gets to us. If you want, I could ask around a bit more tomorrow, but it'll probably just turn up more of the same."

"I think we'll take a look around town ourselves, tomorrow," said Kakashi. "Then we'll decide on our next move."

"Alright then, I'll leave you to it." Yano finished his tea, then rose and headed for the door. "Just be careful, especially after dark. This town isn't safe during the night."

* * *

The narrow streets were crowded, and yet seemed somewhat quieter than they should be. Naruto felt a certain uneasiness, as though everyone they passed was watching them, and yet trying not to at the same time. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with. They seemed to look at him with a mixture of fear and mistrust, just like so many of the villagers back home.

'But why?' he wondered. 'They can't possibly know about the Fox. Could they have figured out that we're ninja?' He moved up alongside Kakashi and whispered, "hey, Sensei, everyone's looking at us like we're gonna attack them or something. You don't think they've..."

"Calm down," Kakashi cut him off, while also keeping his voice low. "We're strangers to them, and these are dangerous times. It's only natural for people to be suspicious."

"Uh... right." Naruto fell back alongside the girls, and tried to ignore the people's sideways looks. He still hated it when people watched him like that.

The group spent most of the day wandering the markets and plazas, looking for any news about the assassinations and the nation's new leaders. But just as Yano had said, all they turned up were rumours; half of what they heard contradicting the other half. Soon evening began to approach.

"C'mon, Sensei, this is getting us nowhere," Sakura complained.

"Yeah, and it's boring too," Naruto chipped in.

Kakashi sighed. "Alright, looks like we're not going to find anything around here. Let's go back and decide what our next move will be."

They began making their way back through the winding streets toward the safe house. The last of the sun's evening light began to fade as thick clouds converged over the sky. The streets quickly began to empty as night approached, and soon the group found themselves walking alone. The town was eerily quiet. All of the four ninja kept their eyes and ears open for danger. There was a feeling of menace in the cold night air.

Then, as they passed another darkening street, something caught Naruto's attention. The sound of a scuffle at the other end of the street drew him out of his thoughts and he turned just in time to see a man being knocked to the ground. Naruto stopped in his tracks. A trio of thugs stood over the badly beaten figure, each brandishing some kind of crude weapon. The unarmed man tried to rise, only to be met with a swift kick to the side by one of his assailants. It was then that Naruto noticed a woman cowering against the side of a nearby building, two young children clutched in her arms.

A surge of anger boiled within him. "HEY, WHAT THE H..." but he was cut short by a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Don't even think about it, Naruto," Kakashi growled. "Remember the mission. We can't get involved in something like this."

Naruto glared at his sensei, his face contorted with rage and frustration. He turned back to see the three thugs snatch up the family's meagre belongings, before disappearing down an alley.

"Damn those stinking rotten scumbags!" Naruto raged. "I'm gonna..."

"Naruto!" Kakashi snapped, tightening his grip. "Calm down! I know how you feel, but we can't risk blowing our cover."

Naruto growled in frustration, his fists clenched. He wanted nothing more than to chase down those three thieving bastards and beat them into an unrecognisable pulp. He watched as the woman rushed over to the crumpled form of her husband. The two children stood by helplessly, weeping at the sight of their bloodied and broken father.

"C'mon, we need to get out of here. We don't want to attract this kind of attention." Kakashi forcibly turned him away from the scene.

Naruto fixed him with another venomous glare, before finally unclenching his fists. He knew Kakashi was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. His attention turned to the two girls. Sakura stood looking at the injured man. Her pained expression clearly showed that she wanted to help but knew that she couldn't. Hinata meanwhile watched the scene with a look of utter sadness and compassion. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

Naruto took one look back to see the man struggling to his feet, taking his wife and children in his arms, trying to reassure them that they would be alright. The anger still burned in the young man's heart. He hated himself for turning away and leaving them to fend for themselves.

The four made their way back to the safe house in silence.

* * *

"Well it looks like we'd just be wasting time if we stayed around here," Kakashi stated.

"No argument there," Sakura agreed, as she sipped a cup of Yano's tea.

"So where are we going?" Hinata asked while she poured a cup for herself.

Kakashi leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Well it looks like the only places that we're going to get reliable information are in the capital, or the Hidden Mist Village itself."

A tingle of fear ran down Hinata's spine. "The Hidden Mist Village? B-but Yano said it was locked up tight. How could we get in without getting caught?"

"She's right, Sensei," Sakura said. "Like Lady Hokage said, our team isn't exactly the best when it comes to infiltration, especially with him around." She stuck a thumb in the direction of the veranda.

Naruto stood alone outside. He hadn't spoken to the others since they witnessed the scene in the street. He didn't really care what the others were discussing inside. All he could think of was how much he wanted to get his hands on those three thugs. He glared at the clouded sky and let the anger simmer inside him.

"Alright, I guess our best bet would have to be the capital, then," said Kakashi. "Let's get some rest. We'll head out first thing in the morning." With that he stood and headed for the room he and Naruto were sharing.

Sakura finished her tea. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna turn in too." She dragged herself to her feet. "C'mon, Hinata, we've got a lot of travelling ahead of us."

Hinata stole a glance toward the veranda. "Um actually, Sakura, I uh... I'm not that tired yet. I think I'll just stay up a little longer."

"Suit yourself." Sakura yawned. "Goodnight." She made her way to their room.

"Goodnight, Sakura." She waited for the door to close before she turned her attention back to the veranda.

'Should I go talk to him?' she wondered. 'Maybe I should just leave him alone, he seems so upset.' She looked down into her tea, watching her reflection in the rippling surface. 'I might make him more upset, or he might even get mad at me.' She sighed. 'What could I say to him that would make him feel better?'

Her thoughts returned to the attack they witnessed. The sight of those two children crying tugged at her heart strings, and she resisted the urge to cry herself. 'I'll bet Sakura would know what to say,' she thought despondently.

But then she began thinking about their time on the ship, just a few days ago, and she realised it wasn't what Sakura had said that made her feel better. It was simply the fact that she was there. She felt better because there was someone else to help carry the pain. And maybe, just maybe, she could do that for him.

'Alright, I can do this,' she told herself as she slowly rose from her chair. But when she started making her way to the veranda, her heart began beating frantically, and the doubts resurfaced. 'But what do I do? I can't just stand there and not say anything.' Again she looked down at the tea cup still in her hand. 'Of course!' She quickly poured a fresh cup of tea, and with one last deep breath, she opened the door and stepped out onto the veranda.

Naruto stood leaning against the wall, still staring up at the dark cloudy sky, arms folded across his chest. He couldn't stop thinking about those three scumbags and what they'd done to that poor family. He barely noticed the door sliding open and a figure stepping through to join him.

Hinata hesitantly approached. "Um... Naruto?" She held out the cup. "I-it's cold out here, and I thought you would like some t-tea." She could feel herself blushing once again.

Naruto slowly turned toward her, his face wearing a look of sorrow and regret. "Oh... thanks, Hinata," he answered quietly. He took the cup with a weak smile, but it soon faded as he turned back to watch the sky.

Hinata's heart sank a little when she saw the pain and depression in his usually smiling face. She dared to take a step closer and leant up against the wall next to him.

For a while they just stood there like that, both holding their tea, but neither of them drinking.

'Should I say something?' Hinata thought to herself. She took a sideways glance at him. He just stood there staring at the dark, starless sky. 'No. I'll wait for him. He'll say something when he's ready.'

One by one the lights of the village began to wink out as the people turned in for the night. Naruto couldn't help but wonder where that family were going to stay, how they were going to get by without money or shelter. 'What if it rains again, like last night? Will they be okay?' he wondered.

"Hey, Hinata," he asked softly, "that family, do you think they were refugees?"

"Um... I guess so," she replied.

He looked down at the cup in his hand. "Do you think they'll be alright?"

Her head slumped. "I... I hope they will," she said, her voice wavering.

He sighed. "I should have done something. I could have stopped it."

"B-but we can't risk getting found out. Our mission is t-too important," she said despondently.

"But is our mission really worth more than their lives? Wouldn't it have been worth the risk?" He turned to look at her, his face still etched with sorrow. "I know our mission is vital, but I just can't stand the thought of those guys getting away with that. I mean what's stopping them from doing it again?"

"But it's t-too late now. Th-they got away."

Naruto stepped forward to lean over the balcony. "I just wish I could do something."

Hinata sighed. "So do I, but it's just too late," she said mournfully.

But then something down the street caught Naruto's eye. "Maybe not," he growled.

Hinata looked up at him to see his face set with a devilish grin. She followed his line of sight to the lone figure walking down the street. Immediately she recognised him as one of the three thugs.

"Alright, Hinata, I'm gonna follow this guy and make him pay for what he did. And then I'm gonna take back the stuff he took and return it to that family." Naruto set his teacup on the railing and made to follow the man.

"Naruto, wait." Hinata reached out to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't try and stop me, Hinata."

"No, I don't want to stop you. It's just that I... I want to... g-go with you," she stammered. "I... I want to help those people too."

Naruto paused a moment before turning to face her. "Hinata, I'm probably gonna get in a lot of trouble for this, and I don't want you to get in trouble too."

Hinata blushed at his caring words. "Th-thank you Naruto, b-but if you're willing to take that risk... th-then I am too."

Naruto paused for a moment and Hinata feared he was going to try and talk her out of it. But then a devious smile suddenly flashed across his face. "Don't worry, Hinata. We're not gonna get into trouble, because nobody's gonna know we were gone."

Naruto put his hands together in a familiar sign, and two clones appeared beside them. The one next to Hinata then made another sign and transformed into an exact copy of her.

"My clones can stay here and pretend to be us until we get back," he whispered. "Now let's go get that jerk."

Hinata handed her teacup to her double, before joining the real Naruto. "Alright, I'm ready."

And with that, they leapt out onto the rooftops in pursuit.


	6. Punishment

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 6: Punishment

The two teenagers stalked their quarry through the darkened streets, leaping silently across the rooftops.

Naruto resisted the urge to bring him down immediately and make him pay for what he'd done. The boy knew that he wasn't the only one who deserved justice. With any luck, he would lead them to his friends, and then they would all get what was coming to them.

Hinata followed close behind Naruto, keeping one eye on their target and the other on him. Even in the darkness of night, with the moon and stars hidden behind thick cloud, her byakugan could clearly see the look of anger on Naruto's face.

The two young ninja followed the man until he finally arrived at what looked to be a large, rundown factory building on the edge of town. They watched him step through a side door as they perched on a rooftop across the street.

"Can you see inside there?" Naruto whispered.

Hinata nodded, focusing her byakugan to look through the walls of the building.

"Are his friends in there too?" he asked in a low growl.

Hinata watched as the thug approached a small group that were already inside. She recognised two of them from the attack they had witnessed. "Yes, and there's two more." She quickly scanned the rest of the building, spotting a pile of baggage that also looked familiar. "And they've still got the things they stole from those refugees."

"Perfect." He flashed a devilish grin. "So how tough do you think they are?"

Hinata readjusted her byakugan to look at their chakra. She could tell they were just average thugs. "Don't worry, Naruto." She blushed slightly. "Th-they're no match for someone as s-strong as you."

The boy grinned. "Alright then, how about you stay out here to make sure none of them get away." He clenched his fists tightly. "I'm gonna go in there and teach them a lesson."

"Wait, Naruto."

"Huh?" He paused, turning back to her.

"Remember we have to be careful," she whispered. "We can't let anyone see what we look like, or do anything that would give away th-that we're ninja."

"Hmm, you're right." He thought for a moment. "Okay, then I'll just have to fight them without using any ninjutsu," he said, taking a black bandana out of his cloak and wrapping it around his head. "I'll just use taijutsu; then they won't be able to tell that I'm a ninja. If they're all just a bunch of lowlife goons then it'll still be a piece of cake."

She smiled and gave him a nod of agreement.

He returned the smile, then focused his attention back to the building in front of them. "It's time for a little payback," he growled, before leaping down and dashing across the street toward the building.

Hinata watched as he effortlessly scaled the wall and slipped in through a window. "Please be careful, Naruto," she prayed.

The five thugs were gathered around a large workbench, playing card games and drinking sake. While they laughed and joked among themselves, they were totally oblivious to the black cloaked young ninja observing them from above.

Naruto watched the scene below him with disgust. 'Those selfish pigs; sitting around laughing and getting drunk while that poor family is left out in the cold with nothing,' he thought, gritting his teeth. He silently made his way down.

The factory floor was mostly empty, apart from a few benches and some unidentified machinery. A couple of oil lamps sitting on the table in front of the group were the only source of illumination. The flickering flames sent shadows dancing across the walls, as the voices of the five echoed through the darkness.

Naruto hitched up the collar of his cloak, leaving only his eyes visible under his bandana. "Hey guys, mind if I join the party?" he growled, as he stepped into the edge of the light.

The five spun around to face the voice behind them. "Who the hell are you?" asked a scrawny guy with a big nose.

Naruto chuckled dryly. "I'm your new sensei," he said sarcastically. "I'm here to teach you how to beg for mercy."

A round of sniggering passed among the group. "Toss this punk out on his face," sneered one with a scar across his temple.

A huge bearded figure with arms like tree trunks rose from his chair. He grinned menacingly as he swaggered over to the young blonde, cracking his knuckles. The hulking brute towered over him, but Naruto stood perfectly still, unfazed. "Sorry, kid, no minors allowed in this club," he bellowed, before lunging forward to grab the boy by the shoulders.

The other four watched what happened next in confusion. The giant of a man froze just inches from the boy then staggered back a few steps before dropping to his knees, wheezing and gasping for breath. All four leapt to their feet.

Naruto remained as motionless as before. "Well, looks like the big guy is learning quickly," he sniggered.

"WASTE THAT PUNK!" yelled the thug with the big nose. The other three grabbed whatever weapons they could lay their hands on and charged at the black cloaked teen.

The one he and Hinata had followed, a long haired goon with a scraggily moustache, reached him first. He hefted a piece of wood and swung it straight down at Naruto's head. With one hand Naruto caught the makeshift club in mid air, just inches before it struck. The man just gawked at him in surprise. Naruto fixed him with a piercing stare.

The thug with the scar came at Naruto from the side, lunging at him with a broken bottle. Without taking his eyes off the long haired goon, Naruto delivered a swift kick to the second mans chest, stopping him in mid thrust and sending him crashing into the wall.

The first thug tried in vain to free his weapon from Naruto's iron grip. The goon stared back into the boy's eyes, frozen in fear, unable to break his gaze.

The third man, a bald freak with tattoos all over his face, roared as he swung his chair at the boy. Naruto smirked to himself. He released his grip on the club before deftly stepping back out of the way. The boy watched with satisfaction as the chair sailed past him to collide with the long haired goon. The bald freak looked at the crumpled form of his friend in shock, then at the shattered remains of the chair he was holding, then at Naruto.

"Nice shot," the boy chuckled.

The freak growled through his teeth and threw aside the broken chair before launching a punch at the boy. Again, Naruto sidestepped the clumsy strike before delivering a backhanded blow to his ugly, tattooed face. The freak fell, landing in a heap on top of the bearded brute as he tried to rise.

Hinata watched the fight unfold with a mix of amusement and pity. She giggled to herself as the five thugs clumsily tried to subdue Naruto. She didn't enjoy watching people get hurt, but she knew that these men deserved what they were getting.

She gasped when the bald man swung his chair, then winced and turned away when she saw it collide with the man they'd followed there.

She was about to turn back to watch the rest of the fight, but something else caught her attention. Panic gripped her when she saw what was heading down the street toward the factory.

'Oh no!' Hinata clutched her hands in front of her mouth. 'Naruto, please hurry!'

A knife flew toward the boy, missing him by inches as he twisted out of the way. The scrawny guy stood at a distance, glaring at Naruto as he drew another knife. The second came flying at him, followed by a third, and a fourth. Naruto ducked and weaved, glaring back at his attacker as the knives sailed harmlessly by.

"I'd be more careful with those," Naruto said mockingly. "You guys seem to be better at hurting each other than you are at hurting me."

The man grunted in frustration. He drew a long combat knife and took up a fighting pose.

Naruto stepped over the groaning figures that lay between them. He swaggered up to the man, stopping a few feet away, and folded his arms. He noticed a bead of sweat running down the side of the goon's face, and smirked. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

The scrawny guy hesitated for a moment, trying to keep himself from shaking. He gripped his knife tighter and swallowed, before thrusting the blade straight at the boy's neck.

Naruto caught his wrist with his left hand and twisted it. The man screamed in pain as his knife clattered to the floor. Naruto grabbed the man's hair with his right hand, pulled his head down and brought his knee up to meet it. He connected with his oversized nose and felt a sickening crunch.

The man dropped, clutching his face with both hands. He began whimpering pitifully as blood flowed between his fingers.

Naruto surveyed the scene around him with satisfaction. Groans of pain emanated from the five crumpled bodies. "Well, looks like you guys have all learned something tonight."

The man with the scar grunted in anger. He reached for an iron bar lying beside him. "Why you little..."

Reacting in an instant, Naruto kicked the scrawny guy's knife into the air. Snatching the blade he flung it toward the scar faced thug. The knife imbedded itself in the wall a hairs breadth from his ear. "I hope we don't have to go through the whole lesson again," the young man growled.

The thug froze, his gaze shifting slowly from the blade to Naruto. He stared at him for a moment, quivering with fear, before he slumped over and fainted.

Naruto smirked to himself as he made his way over to the pile of baggage and started collecting the family's belongings. He ignored the four conscious thugs as they crawled away from him toward the nearest exits.

With all the baggage together, he headed toward the front door to rejoin Hinata. But then he heard a noise from above him. He dropped the bags in the middle of the floor and looked around himself into the darkness. The sound of running footsteps came from every direction, from outside, from inside, and from the walkways above.

The front door burst open and a dozen armed men poured through. Then the side door on his left, and his right. He looked up to see the walkway lined with another half dozen, all carrying bows, crossbows or other ranged weapons. Within seconds he found himself surrounded.

"Well, gentlemen, it seems we have an unexpected guest at our little sware tonight," a voice echoed from behind the mass of armed men. A tall muscular figure with dark red robes and long black hair stepped forward. "Welcome to our headquarters, young man. I am Tanto, master of the Crimson Tide crime syndicate. I see you have already... _acquainted_ yourself with some of my subordinates." He sneered. "I expect the rest of my men would only be too glad to entertain you."

Naruto prepared for the attack as swords and bowstrings were drawn. 'Aw man, this is gonna be tough to get out of without ninjutsu,' he thought.

But before the men could make the first strike, the crash of breaking glass drew their attention. All eyes focused on the walkway above. Naruto watched with a smirk as two men went flying over the railing to land on a group of thugs below. The lavender figure weaved between the startled men. Each was struck down before he knew what was happening.

Seeing his chance, Naruto rushed the nearest group of thugs, knocking down three with his first kick. He dived in among them striking in all directions as they struggled to bring their numbers to bear.

Hinata finished off the last of the men on the walkway above and immediately leapt down into the maelstrom below. Utter confusion reigned among the mass of thugs as they tried to find their enemies in the darkness.

"How many are there?" a panicked voice cried out.

"There must be at least ten of them!" another shouted back.

Confused and frightened men ran in all directions as the red robed figure tried hopelessly to regain control of the situation. "Stand and fight, you worthless cowards!" he roared. "There's only two of them!" But his orders fell on deaf ears.

"Run for it!" someone shouted, and immediately men threw down their weapons and fled, tripping and falling over each other as they searched for an exit. Soon their leader was left in the middle of the factory floor surrounded by only a handful of his lackeys.

Naruto made his way through the darkness and confusion toward the hooded young girl. "Thanks, Hinata," he whispered. "I owe you one."

Hinata blushed, pulling her hood down further. "Y-you're welcome, Naruto," she whispered back.

Naruto turned his attention toward the small group of thugs huddled in a circle around their leader. The men trembled as their eyes scanned the darkness around them, looking for their phantom assailants.

"C'mon, Hinata, let's finish these guys off," Naruto whispered as he flexed his fingers.

The boy strode into the light in front of the group. Hinata followed close behind, keeping her hood down low.

Immediately, the men all turned to face them, weapons held in front. "You see?" growled their leader, "Two of them! You men are pathetic." He looked them over disgustedly. "Now cease your pitiful cowering and deal with them."

The ones at the front inched forward, still shaking. Naruto and Hinata took their fighting positions and waited.

"Kill them now," their boss hissed through clenched teeth, "or I shall have your heads!"

There was another brief pause before one of them finally managed to summon his courage. He charged, followed by three others.

A sword swung at Hinata's head, she ducked it and swept the man's legs out from under him. A spear flashed toward her, she stepped to the side then lunged forward, striking her attacker in the chest.

Naruto knocked aside the heavy pole-arm that came at him, then caught and twisted it out of his opponents grasp. He sent the man flying with a kick to the chin, then broke the wooden shaft over his second attackers head.

The four men crumpled to the floor. And with that, the rest of the gang turned tail and fled, leaving their leader to face the two teenagers alone.

The tall, dark haired man fumed as his subordinates abandoned him. "Pathetic snivelling cretins; they couldn't even handle two little children." He threw back his cloak revealing a pair of ornate samurai swords hanging from his waist. "Now you will face Tanto, the maestro of the crimson katana. I shall enjoy disembowelling you, Whelp," he hissed, as he slowly drew his sword. "Then I shall teach that little minx of yours some respect."

Naruto snorted. "You're the one that's going to learn a lesson, you jerk. You think you're so much better than everyone else, just because you act all superior and use fancy words. But you're no better than those thugs of yours," he yelled. "You're just a dirty rotten thief!"

Tanto glowered at the boy, as he took his fighting stance. "You shall regret those words."

"Alright, Hinata, you stay back. This guy is all mine," Naruto said fiercely.

The swordsman held his stance as the boy charged him, unarmed. With a sudden flash of blinding speed, Tanto sliced at him. Naruto was caught off guard. He barely managed to duck the attack which made a clean cut through his bandana, trimming a few hairs. The next strike came even faster and Naruto was forced back as the blade cut through his cloak, grazing his chest.

Hinata gasped. She focused her byakugan to read the swordsman's chakra. It was much stronger than the average person's.

Naruto paused to regain his footing. 'Man, this guy's quick,' he thought. 'Wish I hadn't left all my weapons back at Yano's place.'

The two squared off for a few tense seconds. Then Naruto charged again. He sidestepped Tanto's first strike, ducked his second, then saw his opening and aimed a punch at his ribs.

But the swordsman was ready. His second blade flashed from its scabbard, catching the boy across the shoulder.

Again Naruto was forced back. He could feel the blood trickling down his arm. 'Damn it!' he cursed in his head. 'Maybe I _will_ have to use ninjutsu.'

Tanto chuckled, raising his wakizashi to show him the thin trail of blood. "You're not so confident now, are you, youngling?"

Naruto scowled at him. 'No! I'm not gonna do this the easy way. I can take this guy down with my bare hands.'

Again, Naruto resumed his fighting stance and charged. He wove his way through the swordsman's defence and struck low at his legs. Tanto cried out in pain as Naruto's kick caught him in the knee. His left leg buckled under him. The swordsman struck at the boy with both swords at once, but this time Naruto was ready. He caught the man by his wrists, stopping both blades short.

Naruto twisted his arms, spreading them wide. Tanto tried to resist, but couldn't hold his footing. The boy saw his chance and delivered a swift knee to the man's sternum. Tanto coughed blood, and doubled over in pain. Naruto twisted his arms further, and both swords fell to the floor.

His opponent disarmed and wide open, Naruto released his grip and delivered a punishing series of blows to his head and body. Tanto reeled from the barrage, stumbled backward, and collapsed.

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled. 'I knew Naruto would win.'

Naruto breathed heavily, clutching at his wounded shoulder. He stepped toward the battered and broken man and stood over him. "I hope you've learned something here, you slimy thief."

He turned to Hinata, smiled and gave her a reassuring wave.

She smiled back at him, blushing slightly. But her smile fell away when she saw the man move.

Tanto leapt to his feet and lunged at the boy. Naruto turned to see a single edged dagger thrusting straight for his heart.

The two collided. Naruto was pushed back. Tanto's hand gripped his shoulder. For a moment the two stood motionless.

Hinata gasped in shock, covering her mouth, when she saw blood dripping on the ground between them. "Naruto..." she squeaked.

The boy looked down, both hands gripping the man's wrist. Warm blood flowed over them, between his fingers. He stared at the blade protruding wickedly from Tanto's chest.

The swordsman coughed, blood poured from his mouth. "Well... played... boy," he said, before breathing his last. His grip slackened, and he fell.

Hinata let herself breathe again, and shed a single tear of relief.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata watched from the roof of a nearby building as the young girl rushed to her mother, pointing around the corner. The woman left her injured husband to see what the girl was so excited about. She jumped in surprise when the girl showed her their stolen belongings sitting in a neat pile at the side of a building.

The two teenagers smiled to each other as the family recovered their lost possessions, before quietly leaping off toward the safe house.

A few minutes later, they landed on the veranda of Yano's house without making a sound.

"What kept you?" whispered one of the shadow clones. Naruto gave it an annoyed glare before they both disappeared in puffs of smoke.

Naruto slid open the door and the pair crept silently into the darkened room.

"I suppose you think that was rather fun, didn't you?" said an unexpected voice from the dark.

The two teenagers froze. A light flicked on, and they both turned to see Kakashi sitting at the table. "Taking on an entire street gang by yourselves is not exactly the best way to avoid attention," he said, fixing them with an angry one eyed glare.

Naruto and Hinata gaped at him. "But you... you were..." Naruto stammered, "you were there watching us the whole time?"

"You didn't think you could fool me with those clones of yours, did you?" Kakashi smirked under his mask. Then he became serious again. "Disobeying a direct order, running off on your own, endangering the mission and the safety of your team. You two are in a lot of trouble."

Hinata shrunk into herself and looked at the floor.

"It's my fault," Naruto said into his chest. "Don't blame Hinata. I dragged her into this."

Hinata looked up at him in surprise. 'He's... he's trying to protect me!'

"I'll take full responsibility for all of this, and that means all the punishment," The boy declared.

"Really?" Kakashi looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"No," squeaked Hinata. "I... I'm responsible, too."

"Hinata, don't. It was my idea to sneak off."

The girl shook her head. "B-but I wanted to go with you, a-and I didn't try and stop you." She squared her narrow shoulders and faced Kakashi with all the determination she could muster. "I am at fault, j-just as much as Naruto."

Kakashi leaned back in his chair. "Alright then, you'll both be punished accordingly. And believe me this not just going to be a slap on the wrist."

"Aw c'mon, Sensei," Naruto protested. "Nobody's ever gonna know. I mean what are those guys gonna do? Go to the police and say 'a couple of teenagers broke into our secret hideout and beat up our whole crime gang?' Yeah right."

"A-and we are leaving tomorrow, s-so we should be gone before anyone comes looking for us" Hinata chipped in.

Kakashi looked at the two of them appraisingly. "Well I suppose there was no serious harm done. I guess I can let you off this time."

Both breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sensei," they said in unison.

Kakashi rose from his chair. "Okay, let's all get some rest. We're leaving first thing in the morning." The masked Jonin headed toward his room, but suddenly stopped and turned to face them. He fixed them both with a frightening one eyed glare. "But if either of you tries anything like that again, I'll see to it that you're stuck doing nothing but D rank missions for the next six months!"

They could only nod in response. Both stood stock still until Kakashi left the room.

Hinata shook herself, before making her way toward the girl's bedroom.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto whispered.

"Um, y-yes?"

"You were awesome." He grinned broadly at her.

Hinata blushed. "N-not as much as you, Naruto." She smiled back.

He grinned wider. "Thanks. Goodnight, Hinata."

"Goodnight," She whispered. And they both made their way to their rooms.


	7. Secrets

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 7: Secrets

"No wonder they call it the Land of Water," Sakura commented, as the group passed yet another vast lake. "This is the third lake we've passed today." Her eyes followed the stream that fed it up into the towering mountains, which seemed to be permanently shrouded in a dense halo of mist.

"So how far is the capital, anyway?" Naruto asked.

"It'll be another two days at least, going at this pace," Kakashi answered.

"Two days! Then why are we going so slow?" the boy protested. "We could get there in half a day, no problem."

Sakura sighed in exasperation. "Naruto, how many times do we have to remind you? _We're under cover!_ If we travelled at full speed, anyone who saw us would know instantly that we're ninja."

"But if we keep off the roads and stuff we probably won't run into anybody," he retorted. "I mean it's not like anyone's looking for us."

"You idiot!" Sakura growled. "Didn't you listen to anything that Yano said? A whole lot of mist ninja rebelled against the new Mizukage, and that means the ones that are still loyal are gonna be hunting for them everywhere. If we got spotted by any of them we could have a whole army of ninja coming after us."

"Oh... right." Naruto scratched his head sheepishly.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "Honestly, would it kill you to think once in a while?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto yelled.

Hinata silently watched as the two of them bickered. 'Why is Sakura so mean to him?' she wondered. 'I thought she was so nice and kind back on the ship. Why does she keep saying such hurtful things to him? He's not a bad person.'

Kakashi stopped in his tracks and sighed. "Alright, you two, knock it off." He pointed to a small village in the distance. "We're heading down there for supplies, and I'd like to remind you that we are trying to keep a low profile. So please keep your mouths shut for once."

The four made their way to the village in silence, though Naruto and Sakura continued to exchange angry glares.

Stopping for lunch at a tea house, the group ate in silence. The place was largely empty, excluding the four ninja and a pair of locals at the next table. Sitting just a few feet away, Naruto and Hinata couldn't help but overhear their conversation. They soon became very interested when a familiar subject came up.

"Uh, where's that again?" the first man asked.

"You know, that small town on the coast, about a day's travel." the second man said to his friend.

"Oh yeah. What about it?"

"Well there was all this talk about this new crime gang running around; the 'Crimson Tide' or something."

Naruto and Hinata both looked at each other nervously.

"Sure I heard of 'em. Lots of small time gangs are trying to expand their territories in the middle of all this political mess." the first man replied.

"Yeah, but I heard that, just the other night, the gangs hideout was attacked and the leader and about half the gang were either killed or crippled."

The two teenagers slowly turned their attention to Kakashi. He glared at them ominously.

"Really? Who could've done that?" the man asked in surprise.

"Well officially, the gang members started fighting amongst themselves. But I heard..."

Naruto and Hinata tensed, straining their ears as the man leaned in to whisper to his friend.

"...that it was one of those big time mafia gangs, trying to take over their territory."

They both quietly let out a sigh of relief. The two teenagers turned back to each other and couldn't keep from giggling amongst themselves.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi cleared his throat loudly and glared even harder at the two. "Uh, n-nothing," Naruto answered timidly. The young pair quickly turned back to their meals.

* * *

"Whoa, what happened here?" Naruto asked as his eyes took in the devastation around him.

Fallen trees and shattered boulders were strewn across the landscape. Deep gouges scarred the earth and smoke rose from the blackened ruin of a small farmhouse. Shuriken and kunai lay scattered everywhere, imbedded in trees or protruding from the ground like strange metallic flowers.

"Naruto, keep moving," Kakashi said firmly as he pushed on ahead, seemingly trying not to look at the devastation surrounding the small group.

Naruto quickly caught up and stepped in beside him. "This was a battle, wasn't it, Sensei? A really big one."

"That's right," Kakashi answered, keeping his voice low. "And it looks like it happened just a few hours ago."

"I wonder who was fighting."

"It doesn't really matter to us, just as long as none of them are still here." He motioned for Hinata to come closer and leant down to whisper in her ear. "Can you see if there's anyone else around?"

Hinata silently focused her Byakugan. She scanned the area as they walked, turning her head just enough to check her blind spot. "There's nobody within five hundred metres but us," she whispered back.

"Are you sure?"

The girl checked the area again, more thoroughly, before nodding.

"Good. Then let's just hurry up and get out of here. Someone's bound to come through here soon," Kakashi said, quickening his pace slightly.

Naruto stepped in alongside Hinata. "Hey, can you really see all that?" he whispered.

Hinata blushed slightly and nodded again.

"Whoa, those eyes of yours are incredible," he said in hushed awe.

Hinata smiled and blushed even deeper, tugging her hood down to try and hide it.

* * *

The vast urban sprawl of the capital stretched out below them. Wide canals filled with small boats crisscrossed the city. A thin haze covered everything, though whether it was the morning mist or a layer of smog was hard to discern.

"Wow, this city is huge!" exclaimed Naruto. "So this is where we're gonna gather all our intelligence now, right?"

"Actually, the best place to find the answers we're looking for would be up there," Kakashi answered.

The three teenagers turned to where he was pointing. Jutting out from the side of the steep hills that surrounded the city was a magnificent palace complex. Dozens of smaller buildings surrounded a massive multi levelled structure built directly into the hillside, rising in tiers like a rice paddy. The entire complex sat between two waterfalls which flowed down into the canals in the city below. A narrow pathway zigzagging up the steep, almost sheer, cliffs appeared to be the only way to reach the palace.

"Oh, great," Sakura said in a sarcastic tone, "should have no problems getting in there."

"We'll scout out the palace tonight," said Kakashi. "For now, you three should just rest up. I'll go take a look around the city and see if I can dig up anything."

"What? You want us to just sit around and do nothing all day?" Naruto yelled in protest. "C'mon, Sensei, why can't we go with you?"

"Well, besides your total inability to avoid drawing attention to yourself, Naruto," Kakashi chided, "infiltrating the palace is going to be one of the most difficult missions you've ever faced, and I need you all to be at your best."

Naruto folded his arms and gave an affirmative grumble.

The three young ninja watched as their sensei disappeared in the direction of the road.

* * *

"Man this is so boring," Naruto said for the fifth time that morning while he lay back on the grass watching the clouds.

Sakura considered telling him to shut up again, but it hadn't worked the previous four times so she just decided to ignore him.

Hinata leant against a tree, fidgeting and twirling her fingers, and stealing the occasional glance at Naruto when he and Sakura weren't looking.

Naruto yawned. "Hey, Sakura, how long do we have to wait before sundown?"

Sakura groaned and rolled her eyes. "Five minutes less than the last time you asked me," she snapped.

Naruto just grunted and went back to his cloud gazing. A few minutes later, the silence was broken again by the sound of his snoring.

Sakura got up and crept quietly over to Hinata. "Hey, c'mon lets go somewhere and continue with your medical training," she whispered.

Hinata smiled and nodded. They hadn't had any opportunities to train since they left the ship. She took one last look at Naruto before following Sakura deeper into the woods.

The two were well out of earshot of the boy when a rustling sound caught Hinata's attention. Instinctively she focused her byakugan. "Oh no!" she gasped.

Sakura stopped in her tracks. "What is it?"

Without answering, Hinata ran into the bushes. She returned moments later cradling a squirming bundle of fur. "A poor little rabbit; I think he's hurt."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, don't startle me like that."

"I'm sorry, but look he's bleeding." Hinata tried in vain to hold the creature still while it struggled in her arms and squealed, sounding almost like a newborn child.

Sakura tried to get a look at it and quickly noticed a cut on its hind leg. Suddenly, she smiled. "You know what? This is perfect."

"Huh?" Hinata gave her a quizzical look.

"I think it's about time for your first practical lesson in medical ninjutsu." Sakura made a few quick hand signs. "Just a simple genjutsu to put him to sleep," she said as she tapped the animal on the head. The rabbit soon ceased its squealing, and fell limp in Hinata's arms. "Okay, now lay it down so we can get a proper look at it."

Hinata gently lowered the rabbit onto the grass. "Can we help him?" She asked, with worry clearly showing in her voice.

"No problem," Sakura assured her with a smile. "First, why don't you use those eyes of yours to see if you can tell what's wrong with him."

Hinata nodded, focusing her byakugan again. She looked carefully, adjusting her vision to view its tiny leg bones. "It has a broken leg..." She strained her eyes to try and view the muscle damage beneath its fur. "...and some deep scratches. I think it was attacked by a bird."

Sakura examined the leg herself, carefully turning it over to inspect it properly. "You're right, looks like that's exactly what happened." She nudged her on the shoulder. "See, what did I tell yah? You made an accurate diagnosis and you didn't even have to touch it. Those eyes of yours are invaluable for a med ninja."

Hinata smiled shyly at the compliment. "So um, what do I do now?"

"Well first you can set the bone straight. Then use that healing jutsu I taught you to mend the break. You remember the hand signs, right?"

She nodded, refocusing her vision on the creature's bone. Gingerly she pulled its leg back into the proper alignment, then made the signs and directed her chakra into her hands. She felt the warmth and saw the green glow of the healing jutsu surround her fingers. Gently pressing her hands onto the rabbit's leg, she again focused her eyes on the broken bone.

At first nothing seemed to happen, then while she watched the girl began to see tiny glowing strings of chakra stretch across the length of the creature's bone. The strings attached themselves to the two halves, and as she concentrated they began to pull them back together. Soon the pieces fit perfectly and she focused her chakra on the join. Hinata marvelled as new bone began to grow before her eyes, fusing it back into one piece again.

With her first task complete she leaned back and took a slow deep breath.

Again Sakura carefully examined the animal. Her eyes widened as she ran her fingers along the length of its leg. "Wow. That was perfect," she breathed. "And on your first try." She looked up at Hinata with a smile of amazement. "Okay, now try it on the scratches."

Hinata again directed chakra into her hands and focused her eyes on the rabbit's skin. She concentrated on each cut one at a time. Again she saw the tiny strings of chakra stretch across and pull the wounds closed, like stitches. Then she watched as new skin formed to cover the tissue beneath.

Sakura watched the wounds close one by one. "Not too much," she said softly. "It can cause more harm than good if you overdo it."

Hinata nodded slowly, being careful to maintain absolute focus on the task at hand. When her work was finally finished, she sat back and looked up at her pink haired teacher. "Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked.

Sakura grinned. "Let's find out." She made another sign and tapped the animal with two fingers, whispering "Release."

Slowly the rabbit began to stir. Its eyes fluttered open. Then it suddenly jumped to its feet and shot off into the nearest bush, showing only the tiniest limp.

A smile of pure joy spread across Hinata's lips as she watched her first patient hopping off into the forest. Both girls turned back to face each other and began giggling ecstatically.

"Hinata, that was amazing!" Sakura exclaimed, as she threw her arms around her. "You are gonna be the most incredible medical ninja in the whole village!"

The two girls sat with their backs to a tree, listening to the breeze as the afternoon wore on.

"Um, Sakura...?"

"Hmm...?"

"D-did you really mean what you said... you know, about me becoming a good med nin?"

"Sure I did. Like I said, I honestly think you could be better than me."

Hinata sighed. "I don't think I'll ever be as good as you."

"Oh come on." Sakura nudged her arm. "I was hopeless when I first started, but you're a natural."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely. If you had some more training, and even half as much practice as I get, you could be a top class medical ninja in no time flat." Sakura giggled to herself. "But then I guess it would be hard to get as much practice as I do," she said sarcastically. "There's not a ninja in the world that gets himself beat up as much as Naruto."

Hinata watched her friend stare up into the sky with a slight smile playing across her lips. Suddenly she felt a weight in the pit of her stomach. The girl realised that was the way she herself looked, sometimes, when she thought of Naruto.

'I wonder if Naruto was right,' Hinata thought to herself as she sat twirling her fingers nervously. 'He said that Sakura doesn't feel about him the way he feels about her. But what if he's wrong? What if she does?' The weight in her stomach began to feel heavier the more she thought about it. 'What if she really does like him, but just pretends she doesn't for some reason? Maybe I should just ask her. She would tell me if she did like him, wouldn't she?' She felt the heaviness in her stomach spread upward and begin to tug at her heart. 'If she does like him, then I know they would end up together. But if she doesn't, then maybe someday... Oh I just have to know.'

Hinata took a deep breath. "Um, S-Sakura...?"

"Hmm...?"

D-do you um... do you l-like Naruto?"

"Do I like him?" Sakura looked over at her with a puzzled expression. "Do you mean, 'do I like him?' or 'do I _like him, _like him?'"

Hinata blushed and began to shrink into herself slightly. "Um... well um... i-it's just that you've known him f-for so long and um..."

Sakura leaned back against the tree and sighed. "Well, me and Naruto have been through a lot together. I guess I think of him kinda like an annoying little brother."

"A b-brother?" Hinata's heart lifted a little.

"Yeah. I mean I know he's got this huge crush on me. He's been asking me out ever since the academy. But he's just so loud, and pushy, and insensitive. Every time we talk he manages to say something that gets on my nerves." She frowned a little as she gazed off into the distance. "I guess he's a nice guy at heart, but he just hasn't grown up enough yet."

_'Yet...'_ Hinata's heart sank. 'So I guess, deep down, she does like him.'

Then Sakura turned to her with a smirk. "So while we're on the subject, is there anyone you like?"

Hinata tensed and began to blush uncontrollably. "W-w-what?"

Sakura giggled. "C'mon, you must like someone."

"Um... I... I..." Hinata's depression turned to panic. 'Oh no. I couldn't possibly tell her. What if she told him?'

Sakura grinned devilishly and leaned in closer. "I think I know who it is."

Hinata felt her face turn even redder. 'No! Please don't let her figure it out!'

"It's Kiba, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Hinata looked at her friend in surprise.

Sakura giggled and poked her in the shoulder. "Well I guess he is pretty cute; kinda like a puppy dog."

"No, Kiba's j-just a friend!" Hinata protested.

"Really?" Sakura said, somewhat puzzled. Then she suddenly recoiled in horror. "Aw gross! Don't tell me you like Shino!"

"What?" Hinata was taken aback by her rather violent reaction.

Sakura cringed and started shivering deliberately. "Eww, eww, eww! Just thinking about all those bugs crawling around inside of him, it's so disgusting."

"No! It's not Shino _or_ Kiba!" Hinata insisted.

Sakura stopped. She turned back to Hinata and her devilish smile slowly spread its way back across her face. "So you _do_ like someone."

Hinata clapped her hands over her mouth and blushed even redder than before.

"Come on," Sakura teased, "you can't hide it from me. I know there's someone you like."

'Oh no. Now I have to tell her. She won't leave me alone until I do, so I have to tell her I like him.' Hinata swallowed. "I... um... I..." She whispered so softly Sakura could hardly hear.

"Who...? _Who...?_" Sakura whispered back ecstatically, leaning in closer.

Hinata squeezed her eyes shut. "I... I l-like..." she continued hesitantly, even quieter than before.

"Come on, tell me," Sakura whispered, clearly brimming with anticipation.

"I... I... I l-like... I l-like..."

"NARUTO!"

"Huh?" Hinata snapped her eyes open to see Sakura staring angrily up into the tree above them.

"Hey guys, whatcha talkin' about?" Naruto asked. The boy was wearing his trademark grin and hanging upside down from a tree branch. "Man I had the best nap."

"Hey, what do you think you're doing, butting in like that?" Sakura yelled at him. "We were having a private conversation, you know? Just what gives you the right to eavesdrop?"

"Hey, I wasn't eavesdropping!" he protested.

Hinata felt like her whole face was about to burst into flames, she was blushing so hard. 'I can't believe it! He almost heard me say it!' She quickly spun around to face away from them while they continued to yell at each other.

"Can't you two give it a rest for just one day?" a weary voice asked. The three teenagers all turned to see Kakashi standing just a few feet away. "How many times do I have to remind you that we're on a covert mission deep in hostile territory? Stop drawing attention to yourselves!"

Naruto and Sakura just grumbled and continued passing angry looks at each other.

Kakashi sighed. "Alright then, let's just get moving. It's going to be getting dark soon, and we need to find a way into the palace. We've been gone for over a week already, and we know next to nothing. We need to find out what's going on in this country and get back home, fast!"

* * *

Authors Note:

Hi, sorry about the long, LONG delay. Hope you haven't all forgotten about me. I kinda got tired of uploading here. It's a bit of extra work to edit the chapters from dA format to ff format. Please comment if you want me to keep uploading this story. This monstrosity is pushing 46 chapters, though only the first 30 are fully edited.


	8. Answers

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 8: Answers

"Can't we get any closer than this?" Naruto asked in a frustrated tone as he squinted at the distant buildings.

"No, this is the best spot there is to observe the palace without being seen," Kakashi answered.

The four stood on the side of a steep wooded hill overlooking the capital. Their vantage point gave them a clear view of the Feudal Lords palace, though they were still some distance away.

"Sundown will be in a few hours. We don't have much time to study the layout before dark." Sakura frowned. "Can't say I'm really all that good at surveillance. Guess we really aren't the best team for this job, huh sensei?"

"Well that's why we have a surveillance specialist attached to our team," Kakashi said. "Hinata, can you see any..." he paused mid-sentence when he turned to face the young Hyuuga.

Soon the whole team was looking at her. Hinata was sitting down with a wide blank scroll laid out before her. With pen in hand, she was staring in the direction of the palace while drawing a series of lines on the paper. Soon the other three were watching intently as she proceeded to systematically draw out a detailed plan of the entire complex, inside and out.

"Whoa, that is so cool," Naruto breathed as he watched her map out the complex perfectly, and without ever seeming to look at the page in front of her.

Hinata blushed slightly and tried not to lose her concentration. The whole team crowded around to watch as, floor by floor, the palace was revealed. Soon her work was complete. The girl sat back, closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples to try and hold back some of the pain.

"Hey, Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto asked.

Sakura knelt beside her. "It's hard for you to use your byakugan that way for so long, isn't it?"

Hinata nodded weakly, her eyes still shut tight. "I'll be fine," she said, her voice wavering slightly.

"Take it easy," Kakashi said as he poured over the freshly drawn maps. "Looks like you've done more than enough for now. This is going to help us enormously."

After a few moments Hinata managed to pry her eyes open. The other three were carefully studying her work.

Sakura frowned again. "Like I thought, this place is gonna be tough to get into. It's built like a fortress. Every entrance is watched from several locations. I can't see any easy way in. What do you think, Sensei?"

At first Kakashi didn't answer. "Hmm, it seems you missed something," he said in Hinata's direction. "This stairway here leads down into the cellars beneath the main building, correct?" He jabbed a finger down on the map. "But I don't see the stairs marked on the underground level." He indicated the spot where the stairway would be marked.

Hinata looked back and forth between the two parts of the map in puzzlement. "Oh, I uh... I must have missed that."

"Perhaps you should make sure," Kakashi suggested.

"A-alright." Hinata took a few deep breaths to clear her head, then summoned her chakra and focused her byakugan again.

Peering through the layers of wood, dirt, and stone, she found the place in the cellars where the stairway should be, but found only a blank wall. She thought she must be looking in the wrong place, so she looked above where the stairs started and found them. At first she couldn't figure it out, but then she looked a little closer. The stairway did not descend into the cellars but continued below them.

She looked back up to where they started, in a small storeroom. Something didn't seem quite right, it took her a moment to realise what. The door was hidden behind a powerful genjutsu.

"A secret staircase!" Hinata exclaimed. "I almost missed it."

"Secret staircase?" Sakura repeated. "Where does it go?"

"I'm not sure," the young Hyuuga answered. The pain in her eyes was beginning to return, but she tried to ignore it. "I-I'll see if I can follow it."

Hinata tried to look deeper, but the pain was coming even stronger now. Her vision started to blur and sparks appeared in front of her eyes. She made one last attempt, but the pulsing waves of pain overwhelmed her. "I c-can't..." She clutched her head in her hands.

"Hey, Hinata, are you alright?" Naruto asked, with a note of panic in his voice.

The chakra pathways around her eyes felt like they were on fire. Her heart thundered in her ears, and every beat brought a fresh wave of pain. The whole world felt like it was spinning, the voices of her companions faded away as blackness enveloped her.

* * *

"You're sure she's gonna be okay, right?" a familiar voice said.

Slowly the feeling began to come back into her body.

"I told you she'll be fine," another voice answered.

She felt herself lying on something hard and uneven.

"But it looked like she was in so much pain."

Cold, damp air filled her lungs.

"She just over stressed her chakra network, that's all."

A dull throbbing pain pressed against her temples.

"So can't you help her?"

Gradually she felt consciousness returning.

"She just needs to get some rest."

She let out a slight groan.

"Hey, she's waking up!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hinata... Hinata, are you okay?"

Hinata tried to open her eyes, and immediately regretted it.

"Don't try to open your eyes yet," Sakura warned. "You pushed yourself a little too hard and passed out. You need to keep your eyes shut for a little while."

"W-where are we?" she asked groggily.

"We haven't gone anywhere," Sakura answered. "We're still on the hillside overlooking the palace."

Hinata slowly managed to lift her hands up to her temples. "How long w-was I unconscious?"

"Just a few minutes," the young med ninja replied. "It's nothing serious. You just need to take it easy."

Another voice spoke. "Sorry about that, Hinata. I didn't realise you'd reached your limit. I shouldn't have asked you to look closer without taking a break first," Kakashi said. "I think we'd better forget about trying to get into the palace tonight, everyone. I don't want to risk it if Hinata's not feeling her best."

"Yeah, we should probably wait until tomorrow night at least," Sakura agreed.

Hinata's heart sank. 'Why do I always let this happen?' she scolded herself. 'Why do I always have to let everyone down? All I do is hold them back and get in the way, just like Father always says.' She felt tears bathe her aching eyes. 'I _am_ a failure... I _am_ a nuisance... I _am_ worthless.'

Then she heard another familiar voice speaking to her... his voice. "Hinata, do you want to wait until tomorrow?"

His voice jolted her out of her sadness. She began to remember what he'd told her in the past few days. 'Those eyes of yours are incredible.' He'd said to her. 'You were awesome... I'd love to be your friend...' He believed in her, and that was enough.

"No!" Hinata declared. "I'm f-fine. I don't need to wait a whole day." She pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Just g-give me a few minutes."

"Hey, slow down," Sakura protested. "There's no need to push yourself."

"Yes there is!" Hinata retorted. "This mission is important. W-we need to find what we're looking for and report back to the Village as soon as possible." She forced her eyes open, shielding them from the sun.

'I am not worthless!' she told herself. 'I am not going to hold everyone back!' She focused her mind and steadied her breathing. 'My father is wrong! I'm not going to let anyone down, ever again!'

"Hinata, this mission is not more important than your safety," Sakura said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do this."

Hinata turned to face her. Looking her straight in the eye, she whispered. "Yes I do."

Sakura was more than surprised by her sudden confidence. She looked back into her eyes and saw more determination than she thought could possibly come from the shy young woman.

"I can do this," Hinata whispered to her. "I'm going to get stronger... Maybe even stronger than you," she said, with a tiny hint of a smile. Hinata returned to her meditation, closing her eyes and concentrating on her chakra.

Sakura stood. A smile of recognition crossed her lips. She knew her friend had made up her mind. She looked to the others and nodded. "She can do this."

Soon the pain was beginning to lessen, and the dizziness reseeded. Hinata once again laid the map in front of her and prepared to finish her work. She took a few slow, deep breaths and made the hand signs to focus her byakugan. She hadn't needed to use the signs for years, but they made things easier. Slowly she directed chakra to her eyes, took one last breath, and whispered "Byakugan."

She ignored the feeling of pressure in her temples as she slowly pushed her vision through the outer walls toward the hidden staircase. She followed it down, beneath the cellars, where it opened into a tunnel. She followed its course under the main palace building, beneath the central courtyard. She drew its path as it turned to run along the hillside, under the many smaller buildings of the complex, and beyond the walls.

The pain in her eyes returned, but Hinata put it to the back of her mind. Carefully feeding only as much chakra as she needed into her byakugan, she followed the tunnel as it cut its way through the hillside. Just as she felt her limit approaching again, she finally found where it ended.

At last, Hinata let her eyes rest. Breathing heavily, she laid down her pen and put her fingers to her temples again. "A tunnel..." she said between breaths, "it leads... outside... the walls."

"A secret tunnel that goes outside the walls?" Sakura exclaimed. "You mean like an escape tunnel?"

Hinata nodded slowly. "I th-think so."

"Perfect. That could be our ticket in," said Kakashi. "Can you show us where it comes out?"

Hinata took a moment to calm her breathing, then gathered her things and stood. "It's f-further down the hillside, j-just beyond those trees." She pointed in the direction.

"Alright then, let's take a look," Kakashi said, shouldering his pack. "Lead the way, Hinata."

The four made their way down the hill as dusk approached. They found the tunnel exit hidden among a cluster of boulders jutting out from the steep hillside.

"No guards and no traps," Kakashi noted. "There's a chance that nobody knows about this tunnel." He turned to Hinata. "Excellent work. There's no way we would have found this without you."

Naruto grinned at her. "Yeah, Hinata, you're awesome!"

Hinata felt the tingling sensation rise in her cheeks. "Th-thank you. I-it was nothing."

"Aw c'mon, you were great!" Naruto exclaimed. "You don't have to be so modest."

Hinata blushed even deeper and smiled. Naruto just grinned even wider.

"Alright then," Kakashi said, as he spread Hinata's map out in front of them, "Sakura and I will see if we can infiltrate the palace. We'll take a look around and find out whatever we can. Unfortunately we don't know exactly what we're looking for, so we'll just have to wing it. Our main priorities are discovering the identities of the new Mizukage and Feudal Lord, finding out how they came to power, and what their intentions are. If everything goes smoothly we should be able to get in and out without being noticed."

"Uh, so what are me and Hinata supposed to do?" Naruto asked.

"You two stay here and be ready to cover our escape," Kakashi answered.

"What!" Naruto protested. "Why do I have to stay out here, Sensei? Why can't I go in too? I don't want to sit out here and do nothing while you two get to have all the fun!"

"This is not about having _fun_, Naruto," Kakashi stated rather firmly. "We're about to try and break into one of the most heavily defended locations in the Land of Water. If we get spotted, we're going to have an entire army coming after us. And as I said, you still need to work on your stealth technique."

"Hey, are you saying Sakura's better at being stealthy than I am?"

Sakura smirked. "C'mon Naruto, you're about as quiet as a suit of armour falling down a flight of stairs."

Naruto growled at her through clenched teeth. "Just what are you..."

"Alright, that's enough!" Kakashi snapped. "You two have been driving me nuts this whole mission. I don't want to hear any more complaining, or insults from either of you!" He took a deep breath and sighed before continuing. "Naruto, I need you to stay here. Hinata is already tired so she can't come with us, and I'm not going to leave her out here alone. And if we get into trouble we'll need you to back us up, alright?"

Naruto folded his arms and grunted. "Yeah yeah, alright. I'll stay out here."

"Good. Then let's get on with this."

* * *

A group of palace officials made their way down the corridor, oblivious to the presence of the two leaf shinobi crawling through the rafters above them. Flickering oil lamps spaced along the walls gave little illumination to the grand, spacious hallways of the palace.

The silver haired Jonin motioned to the young kunoichi to follow the group. Silently, the pair stalked them as the officials approached a guarded door and entered. Effortlessly blending into the shadows, Kakashi crept close enough to hear their voices through the open door.

"Lord Assaiki, your honoured guest awaits you," one of the officials said in a pompous, formal tone.

"Hmm, prompt as always," replied another voice from within the room. "I suppose he wants the latest reports. They insist on knowing everything. Very well, escort him to my audience chamber. I shall receive him immediately."

Kakashi made his way back to Sakura and gave the signal to move. They headed toward the audience chamber, a large two storied hall at the centre of the palace. The pair slipped past the guards and climbed to the balcony overlooking the Feudal Lord's dais. Carefully concealing themselves where they could observe the meeting, they waited.

The Feudal Lord entered first, flanked by guards. Kakashi looked closely at the man as he crossed the room. He knew immediately from his stride that he was certainly not an aristocrat. He wore the robes of a Lord but he moved like a ninja. 'Hmm, Assaiki,' he thought to himself. 'Why does that name sound familiar?' Kakashi studied his face as the man took his seat. He was sure he'd seen him somewhere, but he didn't have time to search his mind for the answer. The second group soon entered the chamber.

Kakashi turned his attention to the newcomers, and immediately a deathly chill ran down his spine. He had no trouble recognising the new Feudal Lord's honoured guest.

'Kabuto!'

* * *

"Man, this stinks," Naruto grumbled as he paced back and forth outside the tunnel entrance. "I mean, how am I supposed to get better at stealth if I never get a real chance to practice?"

Hinata leant against one of the boulders nearby, fidgeting and pressing her forefingers together while she listened to him.

"I just want to prove I can do it, but they won't even give me a chance," he said in frustration. "I just wish I was in there with them. Then I could show them how good I really am."

"Um... N-Naruto," Hinata said quietly.

"Huh, what's up, Hinata?"

Despite the cold night air, Hinata felt warmth spread into her cheeks. "I um... I'm g-glad that you're not in there."

He looked at her quizzically. "Why would you say that?"

The warmth grew. She looked at her feet as she answered. "B-because if you were... th-then I would be all alone. I w-wouldn't want to be out here all by myself if somebody came along."

He grinned at her. "Aw c'mon, Hinata, I know how strong you are. You could take care of yourself, no problem."

Now her whole face was warm. "Th-thank you, N-Naruto." She smiled slightly. "B-but I still feel much better w-with you here."

His grin changed to a soft genuine smile as he stepped over to face her. "Don't worry, Hinata. You're my friend, and I always look out for my friends. I'll protect you with my life. I swear it."

* * *

"Good evening, Lord Assaiki. I trust everything is going well for you," Kabuto said as he stood before the dais.

"About as well as can be expected, under the current circumstances," Lord Assaiki replied. "So far, things have gone more or less according to plan."

Kabuto smiled sickeningly. "Well, in my experience, these things never go exactly as one would like them to. But I trust there are no serious problems."

Kakashi noticed Sakura clenching her fists tightly and glaring at the spectacled sound ninja. He put a hand on her wrist and gave her a sharp look.

Sakura relaxed her hands somewhat, but still watched Kabuto's back with a look of pure hatred.

"Approximately one fifth of our ninja have turned against us, but that's no more than we predicted. With the help of the Sound we should be able to deal with the last of them within a few months," Lord Assaiki said. "However, there is still the matter of our little runaway child."

"Isn't that your concern?" Kabuto said dismissively. "We aren't interested in hunting down a helpless little boy. I'm sure our new Mizukage would agree. They were meant to be your responsibility."

Lord Assaiki frowned. "I thought you wanted to help us with this little coup."

"We're here for our own reasons," Kabuto replied bluntly. "Lord Orochimaru doesn't care about your goals. We'll only continue to help you as long as you keep your end of the bargain."

"Oh don't worry, I always hold up my end of the deal," the puppet Feudal Lord said. "And rest assured, the same goes for Lord Chishio."

Again Kakashi felt chills. 'Chishio, Satou Chishio. Of course, he would have to be the one behind this. So that would make him Kusari Assaiki, Chishio's right hand man.'

"Very good," Kabuto said. "So we can trust you to carry out the most important part of the plan?"

"Everything will be done on schedule," answered Kusari. "We'll need about two years to put everything in motion. Once we have complete control of the Land of Water, and build up our strength sufficiently, we shall begin the invasion as planned."

'Invasion!' Kakashi tensed.

Sakura gasped, clenching her fists again.

"Excellent," Kabuto said with a smirk. He paused for a moment. "I think that's all we need to discuss for now." He turned to leave, only to stop after a few steps. "Oh one last thing," he said over his shoulder. "You may want to tighten your security around here. Wouldn't want too many people listening in on our plans."

His smirk grew even wider as he slowly lifted his gaze toward the two leaf ninja hiding in the shadows above.

* * *

Well your reviews seemed positive, so I guess I'll keep on updating this. I decided I'd better post more than one chapter per week, otherwise it'll take forever to catch up. I'm fully edited up to chapter 30, but I don't want to dump the whole story on you in one go. Keep reviewing if you want me to keep uploading.


	9. Escape

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 9: Escape

"Move!" Kakashi yelled as he shoved Sakura toward the nearest exit.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, her eyes still fixed on the spectacled ninja below them. But she soon turned when Kusari began shouting orders to pursue.

She barged through the door, with Kakashi right on her heels. They stormed down the corridor toward the stairs, all thoughts of stealth now forgotten. The sound of running footsteps seemed to come from all directions.

The door to the stairwell in front of them suddenly burst open. Sakura didn't even slow down. She forced chakra into her fist and punched the man off his feet, carrying him straight back through the doorway. The petite kunoichi pressed her charge, slamming him into the two men that followed him and sending all three into the wall behind. She vaulted over the railing and dropped to the floor below, followed closely by Kakashi.

The two ninja ran at full pace toward the storeroom and the escape tunnel beyond. Sakura turned a corner and came skidding to a halt when she found four armed mist ninja waiting for them. Kakashi pulled her back around the corner an instant before a storm of shuriken and kunai came scything past.

"This way!" he shouted, turning on his heels.

Sakura followed, sending a pair of kunai wrapped with explosive tags back down the corridor as she ran.

Naruto and Hinata jumped when the sound of explosions carried down the hillside from the palace complex above.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto yelled.

Hinata immediately focused her byakugan. She ignored the lingering pain as she pierced through the walls with her eyes, searching for their companions.

"Oh no, they've been found!" she gasped.

"Are they caught?" Naruto asked anxiously.

"No, they're trying to run." Hinata followed them with her byakugan as they struggled to evade the increasing numbers of ninja and palace guards pursuing them. She scanned ahead in the direction they were moving, toward the escape tunnel they'd used to sneak in. She clutched her hands to her chest in fear when she saw their path was blocked. "Th-they're cut off! They can't reach the tunnel!"

Kakashi cursed under his breath. They'd been forced to double back again. "We'll have to find another way out," he shouted. "That way, go!"

The two of them turned another corner and charged down the long corridor. But they stopped half way down when two squads of mist ninja appeared at the other end. The leaf ninja looked back to see both ends of the passageway blocked.

"Alright then," Sakura grinned, gathering chakra in her fist again, "let's try this way!" Her punch slammed into the wall like a meteor, turning the masonry to rubble.

They leapt through the opening amid a cloud of dust and debris and barrelled their way through the room beyond. Still not slowing down, Sakura shoulder barged her way through the door, turning it to splinters. "So which way now?" she yelled back over her shoulder.

"Outside," Kakashi yelled, and took the lead again, "through the main courtyard and over the walls."

Hinata followed their movements on the map with her finger as she watched them forge a path toward the courtyard. She scanned ahead. "No! The courtyard is surrounded. They're heading into a trap!"

Naruto leapt to his feet. "C'mon Hinata, we've gotta help them."

She looked up at him with panic in her eyes. "B-but what can we do? There's so many of them, we'd just get caught too."

Naruto balled his fists and growled through his teeth in frustration. "We can't just stand by and watch!" He looked down at the map again. "Where're they gonna get caught?"

She pointed to the central courtyard of the complex, a wide open space with walls on all sides. "I can see dozens of ninja waiting for them. They'll be surrounded. There's no way out!"

Naruto studied the map where she indicated, looking for any hope of an easy exit. Then his eyes widened in a look of sudden inspiration, and a devilish grin crossed his face. "Don't worry, Hinata, I've got a plan."

Another thick stone wall burst outward and the two leaf ninja leapt through into the open. They dashed down the steps in front of the palace, weaving past ancient statues and ornate fountains. Kakashi and Sakura charged straight across the open courtyard, toward the outer wall beyond.

"Stop!" Kakashi yelled, skidding to a halt just in time as a row of kunai impacted the ground in front of them. Both shielded their eyes when half a dozen floodlights converged on them from all sides.

Mist ninja lined the walls all around them; thirty at least, all with weapons at the ready. The two leaf ninja searched desperately for an exit, but found themselves completely surrounded.

"This looks bad, Sensei," Sakura whispered.

"Stay calm. They haven't caught us yet," Kakashi replied, though he knew they were in serious trouble.

"Oh come now, Kakashi." They spun around to face the all too familiar voice. "You're not losing your touch are you? I would never have thought you'd be caught so easily." Kabuto's voice dripped with sarcasm. He looked down on them from the palace balcony, a smug expression plastered across his face. "Though, it is a nice surprise to meet some old friends all the way out here, so far from home."

"So you know them, do you?" Kusari, the puppet Feudal Lord, said as he stepped out onto the balcony behind him.

"Why of course," Kabuto replied jovially. "This is the legendary Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake. And she is Sakura Haruno, prized student of the Fifth Hokage. The three of us are well acquainted indeed." He chuckled to himself.

Sakura gritted her teeth and glared venomously at the two faced traitor.

"You're looking well, Kakashi," Kabuto continued, "and you too, Sakura. But we seem to be missing someone."

"LOOKING FOR ME?" another familiar voice called out. All eyes turned to the north wall, and the young black and orange clad ninja perched on the ramparts. He glared at Kabuto angrily, his arms folded across his chest. "So, you've come crawling out of Orochimaru's hole, huh?" the boy said in disgust.

Kabuto grinned sickeningly. "Ah, there you are, Naruto. I knew you wouldn't be far away."

Kakashi sighed heavily. 'When is he going to learn?'

Sakura rolled her eyes and groaned. "That idiot!" she cursed under her breath. "Why does he always have to just barge straight in to things like that? Hasn't he figured out how stupid that is by now?"

"Always a pleasure to see you, Naruto," Kabuto said mockingly. "Oh, and I know what you're going to ask, but I'm afraid I couldn't tell you where Sasuke is even if I wanted to. You see, I've been in the Land of Water for weeks organising this little coup with our new friends. I have no idea where he is at the moment."

Naruto sneered. "That's too bad. Guess I've got no reason to take you alive then."

Kabuto laughed. "Ah, Naruto, confident as ever I see."

Kusari stepped forward. "Alright, that's enough small talk." He pointed toward the three leaf ninja. "Kill them now, all of them!" he ordered. "And start with that cocky blonde kid!"

A storm of sharpened steel flew toward the boy, but Naruto didn't move a muscle. Sakura gasped in horror as at least a dozen shuriken and kunai imbedded themselves in his flesh.

"Pathetic," sneered one of the nearby mist ninja.

Naruto looked up at him with a bloodied grin, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

'Kabuto! This is serious,' Naruto thought when the memories of the clone flashed into his head. "Alright, Hinata, where are they?"

"Right above us," she answered, pointing straight up at the tunnel ceiling.

"Okay, stand back," the boy said, as he summoned another clone next to him and focused his chakra into his palm.

The whole courtyard began to shake. A rumbling sound emanated from beneath their feet. "Get down!" Kakashi yelled as he tackled Sakura to the ground.

Suddenly a patch of flagstones cracked, bulged upward, and exploded in a shower of dirt rock and dust. A dense cloud enveloped the courtyard, concealing the two Leaf ninja from view. Seconds later, a volley of kunai flew out of the billowing dust in all directions. Mist ninja dove for cover as explosive notes detonated around them.

"There!" Kusari shouted, pointing toward three shapes darting out of the cloud toward the gate. "Stop them, don't let them escape!"

Two squads of mist ninja dropped in front of them, blocking their path. The three leaf ninja charged, hurling themselves at their enemies. A solid punch to the jaw sent one of the men flying and another fell with a kunai to the chest before they were overwhelmed by the mist ninja's numbers.

Bloodied and broken, the three leaf shinobi hit the ground, but they, too, disappeared in puffs of smoke.

Soon the dust cloud began to dissipate revealing a sizeable hole in the middle of the courtyard. "They're underground! After them, damn it!" Kusari screamed, shaking with anger.

A squad of mist shinobi immediately leapt down into the tunnel below. Several more made to follow them, but were stopped short when another explosion rocked the complex. A huge section of the courtyard sank into the ground and a cloud of fire and dust billowed out from the hole.

Kusari roared in frustration. "Find out where the hell they've gone!" he ordered, slamming his fists down on the railing.

Kabuto stood next to him, chuckling as he watched the remaining mist ninja scatter throughout the complex.

The newly appointed Feudal Lord turned slowly toward the young sound ninja, his face contorted with rage. "And just what do you think you're laughing at? They know about our plans. If they escape it could be a disaster for both of us!"

"Oh please," Kabuto said in a nonchalant tone, "you didn't think we could actually keep all of this a secret, did you? Our enemies were bound to find out eventually, this is just a little sooner than expected."

Kusari fumed. "And do _you_ think they're just going to stand around and wait for us to launch our invasion? They'll be watching our every move, preparing their defences, making preliminary strikes! We're not even in complete control of the country yet, there's no way we'll make the deadline now!"

Kabuto turned to face him, his expression turning cold. "Oh, but you _will_ meet the deadline, Lord Assaiki. The invasion will commence as scheduled. If it does not, _you_ will be held responsible. And you know what the consequences will be if you and your Mizukage should fail to hold up your end of the bargain."

Kusari's anger melted away under Kabuto's withering gaze.

"Besides," Kabuto continued, his devilish smile returning, "there's always the chance you'll be able to catch them before they leave the country." He turned and calmly made his way back inside. "Although I'd hurry if I were you."

Kusari composed himself as best he could, before turning to his bodyguard. "Muster every shinobi we have at our disposal. Spread throughout the surrounding area and hunt them down. No prisoners!"

The four leaf shinobi emerged from the tunnel into the cool night air. Silently, they made the dash across the open grass and into the familiar concealment of the trees.

"That wasn't a bad plan, Naruto," Kakashi said as they leapt their way through the forest canopy.

"Yeah, when did you get so smart?" Sakura added, with a cheeky, but genuine smile.

Naruto grinned at them, clearly bursting with pride. "Well it wasn't just me. I couldn't have done it without Hinata."

The lavender eyed kunoichi blushed at the compliment.

"Excellent work, both of you," said Kakashi. "But don't think we're home free just yet. We're still deep in enemy territory, and now they're looking for us. We have to get out of the Land of Water and get this information back to the Hokage as fast as possible."

"So where are we headed?" asked Sakura.

"If I remember correctly, the ship we came here on was scheduled to dock at a nearby port town today and leave early tomorrow morning. If we hurry we might just be able to catch it, but it'll be close."

"Alright then," Naruto said with a grin, "let's pick up the pace."

* * *

Authors Notes: Um... yeah, hope you enjoy.


	10. Rising Flame

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 10: Rising flame

Was it the cold night breeze that kept her awake, or the burning in her legs? Hinata couldn't tell. She pushed the pain to the back of her mind and tried to keep pace with the others. Fatigue was gradually wearing her down, but she would not let herself fall behind. If she couldn't keep up they'd all have to slow down for her, and she refused to be a burden anymore.

She looked to her right to see that Sakura was also breathing heavily and showing signs of exhaustion. But to her left and straight ahead, Naruto and Kakashi made no indication of being tired.

Hinata began to wonder if it had been such a good idea to practice her medical ninjutsu with Sakura earlier that day when they were supposed to be resting. Then she'd pushed herself into unconsciousness that evening, mapping out the palace complex. Now they were travelling throughout the night, trying to stay ahead of the countless mist ninja that were no doubt following their trail. She was fading, and she knew it.

Kakashi signalled them to stop.

"What's up, Sensei?" Naruto whispered.

"Nothing. Just take a quick break," he replied.

The two girls gratefully dropped to their knees. "How... much... further?" Sakura gasped between breaths.

"Another four hours at least," the jonin answered. "If we don't run into any trouble, we should just be able to make it before dawn."

Hinata fought the urge to lie down and let sleep take her. She gulped down another lungful of the cold night air and tried to shake off her drowsiness. The young Hyuuga stole a glance over at Naruto, leaning against a tree with arms folded, his breathing steady. She wondered how in the world he could have so much stamina. Kakashi, meanwhile, was scanning their surroundings, his one visible eye watching for any sign of their pursuers.

Suddenly, Kakashi's head jerked around. He squinted into the dark forest, back the way they'd come. "Everyone up," he whispered. "I think they're on our trail."

Sakura rose, her breathing calmer than before. "Are you sure?" she whispered back, scanning the area herself. "I don't sense anything."

Hinata forced her tired legs to move and hauled herself to her feet. Her aching eyes protested when she tried to focus her byakugan again. But before she could, a faint whistling sound cut the silence, followed by the dull thud of metal impacting the tree next to them. She didn't need to see what it was. The familiar crackling hiss of an explosive note was unmistakeable.

All four leapt clear, moments before a bright orange flash lit up the forest. The tree was torn in half by the blast, sending debris scattering in all directions. Hinata felt wood splinters brush past her face as she dove for cover. Though her tired body resisted, she managed to roll into a crouch. Her survival instincts were overriding her desire for rest, providing the adrenaline needed to keep her alive.

Hinata forced chakra into her eyes and immediately her surroundings became clear. The girl was about to push her vision out further, to find their assailants, but something more urgent caught her attention. A rain of razor edged steel flew out of the darkness, dozens of shuriken and kunai. She could see the others behind her, still recovering from the explosion. They weren't ready to defend themselves. Once again her companions needed her, and this time she was not going to let them down.

Hinata spread her arms wide and began sweeping her hands in broad graceful arcs. In a blur of motion, she was surrounded by thin strings of barely perceptible energy, coiling around her body to form a perfect sphere of protection. Just as the storm of metal was about to reach her, needle like bursts of chakra flew from her palms, intercepting the projectiles and cutting each of them neatly in two.

The remains of the broken weapons fell harmlessly to the ground around the four leaf ninja. Sakura was staring at her in awe. Naruto cracked a smile and chuckled. Even Kakashi raised an eyebrow, showing how impressed he was by the girl's unique defence technique. She'd done it. They were safe.

Hinata dropped her arms to her sides, her shoulder muscles burning. She'd already been low on chakra before, and her Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms had taken much of what she had left. But there was no time to rest.

"Look out!" she called, as five shapes entered her enhanced field of vision.

The others all took up defensive stances. The mist ninjas descended upon them from every direction. Two made to flank Kakashi, who drew a kunai and raised a hand to his headband. One appeared out of the darkness a few yards from Sakura, making a series of hand signs. Another leapt upon Naruto from the trees above, sword raised over his head. The last charged at Hinata head on.

Kakashi stood waiting as the two mist ninja came at him from either side. The first aimed a kick at his head. Kakashi dropped underneath it with ease, before leaping into the air. The second ninja followed. Sparks flew when their kunai collided.

Sakura braced herself when she heard the sound of rushing water from behind the ninja confronting her. She twisted out of the way at the last instant, avoiding the jet of liquid that shot straight toward her head. The thin strand of water recoiled back into the mist ninja's palm like a whip. Sakura ducked under a second strike, then clenched her fists and charged.

Naruto dove forward and rolled under his opponent as the sword wielding ninja came down. The blonde boy quickly sprang to his feet. He raised his guard to catch the man's kick as they both spun to face each other. But the kick had been a feint. The mist ninja sneered as his sword descended on Naruto's shoulder, only to gasp in surprise when the boy disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm getting sick of all these swords," Naruto growled. His opponent gaped at the identical pair of black and orange clad teenagers emerging behind the cloud. One began forming a sphere of swirling blue chakra in his hand.

Hinata spread her feet, taking up the stance of the gentle fist fighting style. She tried not to flinch as her enemy bore down on her, though he was taller than her by at least a foot. The girl knew she had to finish him quickly. Her chakra was starting to run dangerously low. She could feel the fatigue throughout her body, weakening her, slowing her down. Yet at the same time she felt a strange tingling sensation in the chakra pathways around her eyes. She wondered if it was just the adrenaline, or the lingering pain from her overexertion. It certainly wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it didn't exactly hurt either. She almost felt like her eyes were drained somehow, as if they were hungering for more of her chakra. As her opponent tore across the ground toward her, Hinata felt the overwhelming urge to give her eyes what they wanted.

The tingling rose to a stinging as Hinata poured chakra into her byakugan. She could feel her temples pulsing as her chakra pathways struggled to take the strain. Then in an instant, everything around her seemed to change. It was as though time slowed down by just a fraction. She could see the chakra flowing through her opponent's body, but she could also see something else, like tiny points of light on the surface of his skin.

She had seen them before, but only a few at a time, and only when she was calm and focused. Only by concentrating with all her force of will on a small part of the body could she perceive them. But now they were as clear as day. Even in the midst of battle, with her life in imminent danger and her body and mind reeling from exhaustion, she could see her enemy's chakra points!

She had little time to consider the situation, though. The ninja was rapidly covering the last few feet of ground between them. Hinata shook off the surprise and prepared to defend herself.

He lunged at her, kunai held forward, a simple trick to distract her attention from the real attack that would follow. But Hinata could see his chakra flowing toward his empty hand. With practiced precision she knocked aside his feigning attack and spun to the right, letting his charge carry him past. As she turned, she saw her opening; his left side was unprotected. In an instant she focused her chakra into her fingertips. She could see the perfect place to strike; a tiny point between his ribs. The pathway leading to it coiled around his lung, and back to the chakra well at his heart.

'Can I really do this?' she wondered when her mind finally caught up with what was happening. Even among the Hyuuga elite, the ability to see and strike chakra points in combat was extremely rare. She had practiced the technique a thousand times in training, but could never attain the combination of speed, focus and precision required. 'I can't believe this is happening!'

For an instant her concentration wavered. Her vision blurred, she lost sight of the chakra point she was aiming for. 'No! Not now, not when I'm so close!' Desperately, she forced more chakra into her byakugan as she pressed home her attack. Again, time seemed to slow. Again, her target became clear. Her fingers almost felt like they were being pulled to the tiny point of light. With every ounce of strength and focus she could muster, she struck.

Hinata looked on in shock as her enemy went limp as a rag doll and fell face first onto the ground. She looked down at him, astonished, as she saw the flame of his chakra well sputter and fade. He wasn't just injured. He wasn't just unconscious... He was dead!

She hadn't thought that was possible; not in her current state, with her chakra already drained. She knew that a perfect strike to the correct chakra point, delivered with enough power, could be fatal. But her? On her first attempt? Only a true master of the gentle fist style, like Neji or her father, could deliver such an attack with certainty. But she was always said to be a failure, one of the weakest of her clan.

Hinata stared down at the body of her fallen enemy, her hands trembling. 'It must have been luck. It had to be.'

After trading blows in mid air for a few brief moments, Kakashi and his opponent pushed away from each other. The mist ninja sent his kunai flying after the Leaf jonin. Kakashi deftly caught his enemy's weapon, before launching it toward the other man on the ground, followed by his own kunai. The mist ninja dodged the two weapons with ease, then began making hand signs. Landing on a tree branch, Kakashi watched as his other opponent dropped beside his companion and did the same.

The two completed their jutsu simultaneously. Both inhaled deeply, before launching super compressed bullets of wind from their mouths.

The copy ninja stood firm as the pair of barely visible spheres streaked toward him; barely visible to somebody without the Sharingan at least. The copy ninja's hands became a blur of motion. As the projectiles closed the distance, he also inhaled deeply and raised one hand to his mouth.

A roaring plume of fire bathed the forest in a hellish red glow, consuming the wind bullets before engulfing the two mist nin that launched them. Their screams were cut short as the flames washed over them, blackening the ground and igniting the trees nearby.

Sakura skidded to a halt when a wall of water rose in front of her. She dove to the side as it came crashing down toward her like a cresting wave. Two more jets of liquid snaked their way toward the pink haired kunoichi, forcing her back. Sakura took cover behind a tree as one of the water whips carved a shallow trench out of the ground where she'd stood just a heartbeat ago.

Her enemy seemed content to hold his ground, his attacks tearing chunks off the tree like a woodsman's axe. Smirking to herself, Sakura slammed her fist into the weakened trunk, sending it crashing down on top of her assailant. She leapt up onto the falling tree trunk, running along its length as it bore down upon him. The mist ninja had no choice but to move, and she was ready. As soon as he leapt out of the way, Sakura followed, catching him in midair. One punch was all it took.

Naruto's clone charged first. Sword clashed with kunai. The two rained blows on each other for a few heartbeats before the mist ninja found his mark. The real Naruto burst through the cloud of smoke left by his clone, rasengan in hand. His opponent raised his sword to block the churning ball of chakra. Naruto grinned devilishly as the rasengan slammed into his opponent's blade and shattered it. The boy pressed home his charge crushing his enemy's ribcage and sending his broken body flying into the darkened forest.

Naruto stood relaxed his guard, and looked for his companions. The bodies of the four other Mist ninja littered the ground. His eyes rested on Hinata. She stood over the corpse of her fallen opponent, staring at her hands as if in shock. Slowly her gaze rose to meet his. Naruto flashed her a smile, but it dropped away in an instant when two figures suddenly appeared behind her back.

He tried to shout a warning, but they were already upon her. A pair of wicked clawed gauntlets thrust toward the back of her head. Her face was blank. Her pale lavender eyes seemed to stare straight through him. She would never know what hit her. It was too late… or so he thought.

The mist ninja's claws passed harmlessly over her head as Hinata dropped into a crouch. Again she focused her chakra into her fingertips. In a single fluid motion she rose behind them and thrust her hands forward, striking both men simultaneously at the base of their skulls.

The two mist ninja collapsed to the ground... dead.

For a moment Hinata stood motionless, her arms stretched out in front of her. Naruto stared at the girl, his mouth hanging open in amazement. Slowly she lowered her arms to her sides. She looked down at the bodies of the three ninja lying on the ground before her.

'But... how?' She couldn't understand it. Where had this strength come from? She could have believed one to be no more than luck, but two in a single stroke?

Then, without warning, sparks appeared in front of her eyes, and with them came a searing, agonising pain. She clutched her head in her hands and fell to her knees, screaming. It felt as though fire and ice were running through her chakra pathways. She squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could, her body shaking uncontrollably.

"Hinata!" Naruto ran to her side. "What happened, what's wrong?"

Hinata didn't answer. All she could hear was the pounding of her own heartbeat. All she could feel was the pain.

"Sakura, come quick," the boy called out. "Hinata's hurt!"

But as the young med nin started toward them, a low hissing sound filled the air. The ground began to shake and the hissing grew to a roar, like the thundering of a waterfall.

"Watch out!" Kakashi called from the trees above.

Naruto turned toward the source of the noise to see a vast roiling vortex of black water descending upon them. He grabbed the helpless girl beside him and threw himself out of its path. The churning mass of liquid crashed down like the fist of an angry giant. A wall of water exploded outward, engulfing the two young ninja and sweeping them along like leaves in a rushing river.

Hinata emerged from her world of pain into one of churning, freezing darkness. Her lungs filled with icy water. Her body was flung from one direction to another. Unknown objects buffeted her from all sides. She didn't know how long it lasted. Her mind was pitching and reeling as much as her body. Something solid impacted against her back and at last the world seemed to be slowing down.

The water receded. Hinata gasped for breath, coughing and sputtering to expel the fluid in her lungs. As her senses returned she began to feel something around her waist. She heard someone else coughing and gasping for breath.

"Hinata," the boy wheezed as he fought for air, "are you okay?"

The freezing cold seemed to numb the pain in her eyes. Hinata pried them open and looked to find Naruto lying half underneath her, his arms wrapped firmly around her from behind. "N-Naruto?" Suddenly she didn't feel cold at all.

Naruto managed to get his breathing under control. "Are you hurt?"

"I..." She broke into another fit of coughing. Naruto loosened his grip on her waist. She rolled onto her hands and knees and forced the last of the water out of her lungs.

Naruto hauled himself to his feet, drenched from head to toe. He pushed his sodden hair out of his face and looked around. A thin layer of water covered the ground, reflecting the pale moonlight. He peered into the gloom and realised he had no idea where he was. There was no sign of Kakashi or Sakura, or any of the mist ninja they'd defeated.

After a few moments, Hinata's breathing also steadied. Her temples were throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She felt dizzy and had to resist the urge to collapse on the wet ground.

"C'mon, Hinata, we've gotta get moving," he told her, as he lifted the girl to her feet. "Looks like there's more of them out there. And I can't find Sakura or Kakashi Sensei."

"W-what… what happened?" she asked, struggling to maintain her balance.

"Some kind of really powerful water jutsu," he answered, still scanning their surroundings. "I've seen something like that before."

Gingerly, Hinata tried to feed chakra into her byakugan, but the sharp, stinging pain returned. She knew that she needed to rest her eyes. If she kept forcing it she could suffer serious or even permanent damage. The girl breathed slowly, trying to calm her racing heart.

A fine mist started to rise off the waterlogged ground. Naruto grunted in frustration when it began to obscure their already gloomy surroundings even further. It coiled around their legs, growing thicker with every passing second. 'I've never seen mist appear so fast,' he thought to himself, 'or so thick. Well, except that time in... Oh crap!' He turned to Hinata, now barely visible behind the veil of fog. "Be careful, this isn't normal mist," he whispered. "I've seen this before, too."

Again, a faint whistling sound cut the silence, followed by splashes and the thud of metal on wood.

"Look out!" Naruto whispered, as he grabbed Hinata and pulled her behind the nearest tree.

Again, Hinata felt the cold disappear as the boy's strong arms held her against the tree trunk. Now she felt dizzy for another reason, and she knew it was only the adrenaline that kept her from passing out.

"Stay quiet," he whispered in her ear. "I've fought someone like this before. He hides in the mist, and finds his enemies by sound."

* * *

Authors Notes: Hmm... another fight heavy chapter.

Looking back, I think that the way I wrote this type of highly detailed, blow-by-blow battle scene was one of the main problems with the later chapters. In case I haven't told you, I kinda fizzled out while writing this story. These chapters I'm posting now were written years ago. The latest ones were jam-packed with this kind of stuff, and it slowed everything to a crawl. I know a lot of people like this stuff, but it would never work in a real novel. Battles need to be dealt with as quickly as possible so you can get back to the plot. Unfortunately this story is based on a manga where battles _are _the plot! Maybe this would work as a doujin, but unfortunately I can't draw that well. Oh great, I'm rambling again.

Please read and review.


	11. In Your Hands

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 11: In your hands

Cold water splashed into Sakura's face, shocking her out of unconsciousness. A tingling sensation at the back of her head grew to a throbbing pain when she tried to move. She pulled herself up, groggily, and attempted to get her bearings, finding only a thick mist swirling around her. Still not quite back to reality, the young woman took a few steps forward, splashing through the shallow water. She flinched when something whizzed past her ear.

Sakura tried to turn to face her attacker, only to stumble and trip over an unseen tree root. She fell, face first, into the water. Pushing herself up half a second later, now fully aware, the young medical ninja turned to look at something that splashed down a few feet away from her. Through the fog she could make out a round, fist sized object. She gasped when she heard a sharp metallic click. Instinctively, Sakura rolled onto her side, putting her back to the device and curled into the foetal position. An instant later a loud crack split the air. She shrieked in pain as her skin was pierced by a spray of tiny needles.

The young woman curled herself tighter when something else landed just inches in front of her. Then she found herself being lifted off the ground. More loud cracking sounds came from below her as she was carried through the air. A few moments later they landed. Sakura gritted her teeth as Kakashi gently laid her down. Even the slightest movement sent shockwaves of pain through her body.

"Hold on, Sakura, and try to stay quiet," Kakashi whispered.

Sakura could only bite her lip and try to stay as still as she could. She wanted to scream, but even a shallow breath was painful.

'Damn it!' Kakashi cursed in his head. 'It had to be our only med nin. Now we're in real trouble.'

Naruto jumped when he heard the cry of pain echo through the forest. "That was Sakura!" he whispered. "She must be in trouble. Ah, this stupid mist!"

'No, Sakura!' All thoughts of her close proximity to the young man were forgotten. 'I have to help her! Even if it kills me, I have to help her!'

Hinata focused her chakra, slowly directing it through the aching pathways toward her eyes. The pain threatened to overwhelm her again, but she fought through it. Gradually, her enhanced vision began to penetrate the dense fog. She pushed her sight out further, searching for the hidden attacker. Everything around her was blurred and distorted. Her eyes felt like they were burning, but it didn't matter.

Something appeared at the edge of her range. She focused her sight on it. A single mist ninja perched in a tree, his head cocked to one side, shuriken in one hand, a round metal object in the other.

"I s-see him," she whispered through clenched teeth.

"There's just one?" the boy asked.

She nodded, grimacing from the exertion. "Thirty m-metres." She pointed into the trees above, little more than dark silhouettes behind the veil of mist.

"Alright, we gotta take him out."

"B-but how do we get close enough to him? He'll hear us."

Naruto smirked. "Well then, we'll just have to give him something else to listen to." He crossed his hands in front of him and a pack of clones appeared. The real Naruto gave them a silent nod, and they scattered into the swirling mist.

Hinata watched as shuriken flew from the mist ninja's hands. Two clones fell within the first few seconds. Another volley destroyed three more and sent the last few diving for cover.

"Hmm, this guy's good," Naruto muttered. "Let's see if he can handle this." He focused his chakra and made the hand sign again. This time several dozen clones came into existence.

Again Hinata watched as they spread into the forest, this time dashing from cover to cover. She noticed a look of confusion cross the mist ninja's face as the sound of movement came from all over.

"Alright, Hinata," Naruto whispered, taking the girl's hand, "lead the way"

Hinata blushed once again when she felt the boys hand in hers. But she cleared her head and began to carefully creep toward their enemies hiding place, with Naruto following close behind. More clones fell, as the two teenagers silently climbed a tree overlooking their enemy.

For a few brief moments, a cold silence fell over the forest. Hinata watched the mist ninja carefully. He showed no signs that he was aware of their presence. Naruto sent her a questioning glance. She turned to him and nodded in reply. Then all hell broke loose.

A swarm of clones rushed toward the mist ninja's position from all directions. A dozen fell within seconds as shuriken and needle bombs found their mark. But despite his skill, he couldn't hold back all of them. A single clone burst through the fog, and spotted him. It lunged forward, swinging at his head. The mist ninja quickly cut it down, but the clone had done its job. The real Naruto now knew his exact position, and he wasted no time.

Rasengan in hand, Naruto dove upon the mist ninja. His opponent looked up just in time to see the coruscating sphere of chakra descending upon him from above before it caught him full in the face. Naruto's charge bore both of them all the way to the ground below, crushing the man against the hard packed earth.

Hinata dropped down beside the boy as he pulled himself to his feet. Finally she could relax her aching eyes. She felt as though she was about to collapse from the pain and exhaustion, but she still managed a smile.

Naruto grinned back at the girl and released the last few clones. "Looks like he was no match for us, huh, Hinata?"

A faint blush crossed her cheeks again. All she could do was nod weakly.

Soon the mist began to clear, and the boy's smile was replaced with a look of concern. "Hey wait, where's Sakura?"

'This doesn't look good,' Kakashi thought as he examined Sakura's wounds. The needles were small, but they were buried deep. He counted a full dozen protruding from her back and shoulders. Several looked to be dangerously close to her spine. "Sakura, can you hear me?"

The pink haired girl lay on her stomach, her face set in a grimace of pain. She gave what sounded like an affirmative groan.

"Alright, now I'm going to have to..." Kakashi stopped mid sentence when he heard someone approach. He raised his guard, but soon lowered it as Naruto emerged from the retreating mist, followed closely by Hinata.

"Hey, Kakashi Sensei, we..." Naruto stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the girl lying face down on the forest floor. A look of shock and fear covered his face. "Sakura, no!"

Hinata gasped when she looked upon her new friend. "S-Sakura..." She held her trembling hands to her mouth as tears began to well up in her already aching eyes.

"She's alive," Kakashi reassured them, "but I don't think it's safe to move her like this. We need to get the needles out of her." He knelt back down beside the pink haired girl. "Alright, Sakura, I have to take these out. Just try to hold on."

"Y-you know what you're doing, right, Sensei?" Naruto asked, a slight quiver entering his voice.

Kakashi paused to take a deep breath. "Well, I can't say this is my speciality. But we don't have much of a choice. That fight must have been heard by every mist ninja for miles around. We need to get out of here, but we can't move her until we get rid of these needles." He laid Sakura's medical tools out in front of him, selected his instrument and prepared to remove the first one.

Sakura stirred. "Hi-na-ta..." she groaned weakly.

Kakashi paused. "Sakura, what is it?"

Sakura struggled to speak. Her eyes squeezed shut and her face still contorted with pain. "W-where is... H-Hinata?"

Slowly the dark haired girl stepped forward and knelt beside her. "S-Sakura, I'm h-here," she answered quietly, tears threatening to overflow.

Sakura pried her eyes open to look up at the young Hyuuga. "H-Hinata... you... c-can do this." she said through clenched teeth.

Hinata looked back at her in shock. "But... b-but I... I can't... I've n-never..."

Sakura inched her hand toward Hinata's, taking it in hers. She caught her gaze and held it as she spoke. "Don't b-be... afraid. I... t-trust you."

A single tear rolled down Hinata's cheek. She squeezed Sakura's hand, and nodded silently. The young Hyuuga paused for a moment to calm her breathing, then once again prepared to focus her byakugan.

She knew her chakra was almost gone. She knew the pathways to her eyes were dangerously over stressed. But she also knew that she would rather die herself than abandon her friend. She made the hand signs and directed the chakra to her eyes. "Byakugan," she whispered. The pain stabbed at her temples, but she didn't waver. She held out her hand toward Kakashi, beckoning for the medical tool he was holding.

Naruto looked on in confusion. "Uh, hey Hinata..."

Kakashi motioned him to be silent, before handing the instrument to the girl.

Her hands trembled as she prepared to remove the first needle. Sakura winced sharply when the tool clamped onto it. Hinata took one last deep breath before carefully starting to pull it free. Slowly but surely it began to move. She jumped when it suddenly came loose, and almost dropped the instrument. A trickle of blood ran from the tiny hole in the girl's skin. Hinata quickly applied pressure.

"K-Keep going," Sakura whispered, as tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "I-It's alright... we n-need... to h-hurry."

Holding back more tears of her own, Hinata moved on to the next needle. For what seemed like an eternity she worked, pulling the tiny metal slivers out of her friend's body. Soon she was down to the last few, but these were the ones she had been dreading; the ones closest to her spine. Her byakugan was wavering. She paused to wipe away her tears. 'I can do this.' She told herself. 'Sakura needs me. I have to do this.' Hinata slowed her breathing, flexed her fingers, and concentrated her vision on the area where the needles had penetrated. One was close to a vital nerve, another, a major chakra pathway. With all the care and precision she could muster, Hinata slowly and carefully slid them free.

Naruto breathed a huge sigh of relief when the last one came out. But Hinata knew that the work was only half done. She focused what little chakra she had left and made the hand signs for the healing jutsu. She directed the energies to the tip of her finger, and sealed each of the tiny wounds, one by one. As the last of them began to close over, Sakura's short shallow breaths became longer and deeper. The grimace of pain contorting her face began to melt away.

When Hinata finally finished her work, the pink haired girl half opened her eyes. She looked up at the young Hyuuga, her lips curling into a faint smile, before she let herself drift off into unconsciousness.

At last, Hinata let her tortured eyes rest and allowed tears of joy and relief flow down her cheeks. After a moment she looked up to see Naruto looking back at her. His face spread with a grateful smile and his cheeks also streaked with joyful tears.

"Good work, Hinata," Kakashi said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you came on this mission with us." Carefully he lifted Sakura's unconscious form onto his back. "Now we have to get moving. We don't have much time left."

* * *

The moon and stars were fading and the first faint glow of dawn was beginning to warm the horizon behind them when the group finally reached the coast. The port town where their ship was scheduled to be leaving that morning was just below them. Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi stood upon the hills above, scanning the docks below, looking for their means of escape from the Land of Water.

Hinata's tired eyes turned from the scene below to the still unconscious form of Sakura, draped across Kakashi's back. She could see the young woman's breath stirring a strand of her pink hair. She seemed to be resting peacefully.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and squinted through the faint early morning light. "Hey, Sensei, I don't see our ship down there."

"That's because it's out there," Kakashi replied, his gaze directed out to sea.

The other two turned to look and saw a dark shape out on the water with a few faint, winking lights at either end.

"No way! You mean we missed it?" Naruto groaned.

"Not yet we haven't," Kakashi declared. "Let's move!" Immediately he began heading for the beach.

The two teenagers followed close behind. Soon they were kicking up sand, then their feet touched water. They dashed across the rolling surface, leaping over the cresting breakers. But after pushing herself so hard, Hinata's strength was starting to give out.

Her legs were burning, her breathing was ragged. 'Just a little further,' she told herself, but the ship didn't seem to be getting any closer. The group jumped over another wave as it loomed before them. Hinata felt her feet sink a little when she landed on the other side. Her chakra was all but gone and the effort of pushing it to her feet was draining it even faster. She began to slow. The outlines of her team mates began to grow fainter in the pre-dawn gloom. 'Just a little further.' But her body wouldn't listen. Her eyes were growing dark. She struggled to keep her balance. Her feet began to sink beneath the surface. She stumbled... She fell.

But instead of the cold embrace of the ocean, a pair of strong arms caught her. She felt herself being lifted off her feet, one arm around her shoulders, another under her knees. Sleep beckoned, but she managed to open her eyes.

"Don't worry, Hinata, I've got you."

"Na...ru...to." She let her eyelids fall and rested her head against his shoulder. Whether it was the exhaustion or the warm embrace, she didn't know and she didn't care. She drifted off into unconsciousness feeling safer than she had ever felt before.

* * *

Authors notes: Wow, this chapter seems really short to me. I think it's acutally one of the shortest I've ever written. One of the later chapters is over 12,000 words! Originally I think this was part of chapter 10, but I cut it in half so I could post the first part earlier. That was when I could actually write one chatper per week.

Anyways, this is the third-to-last chapter of this volume. To keep things organised, I've split this story into several volumes of about 10-15 chapters each. That was mostly for dA though, and there won't be much of a change here on ff. All following chapters will be posted as part of this one story, so don't worry about having to look elsewhere for the next volume. It's really just a way to clarify where one plot arc ends and another begins.

Please keep commenting. I'm afraid I'll get bored and stop posting here if nobody talks to me. Was that a threat? Not even I'm sure at this point.


	12. Rest

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 12: Rest

'So warm...' She curled up closer to him. 'So soft...' She nestled her head into his chest. He rocked her back and forth, slowly, gently. 'Hmm, Naruto...' She didn't want it to end, but gradually the dream began to fade away.

Hinata could hear the ocean waves. She felt the ship roll gently from side to side. Then came the unpleasant prickling sensation in her temples. Her eyes felt dry and cold. She tried to open them but quickly squeezed them shut again. They felt as though they were full of sand. For a moment the girl just lay back and listened to the sound of the water. Then she heard someone breathing. She turned onto her side and pried one eye open just long enough to see Sakura lying on her stomach in the bed across from her, asleep. Hinata sighed. Her friend was alive. Their mission had been successful, and they were on their way home.

A few minutes later, she heard the pink haired girl stir. "S-Sakura?" Hinata whispered.

Sakura groaned softly. "Hey," she breathed.

Hinata could tell the young medical ninja was still very weak. She didn't have much energy herself, either. Again she managed to open her aching eyes. "You feeling okay?" she asked quietly.

"I'll be fine," Sakura whispered, a slight smile tugging at her lips, "thanks to you."

Hinata lay back down and let her eyelids fall. Soon they both drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Naruto sat on the edge of his bunk, his hands balled into tight fists. "So that's what Kabuto was doing there," he growled.

"Yes, it seems Orochimaru had a hand in all of this," replied the jonin sitting across from him. "He may have even masterminded the entire coup d'état."

The boy gritted his teeth and cracked his knuckles loudly. "I should have just taken that traitor apart, right there and then!"

"You made the right decision, Naruto," Kakashi said calmly. "You know we couldn't have fought them all."

Naruto relaxed his hands and looked at the floor. "Yeah... But I still wish I could've stopped him somehow."

"It was already too late for that." Kakashi lay back down on his bunk and sighed. "Even if we had taken out Kabuto and Kusari, it wouldn't have made much difference. It seems that Orochimaru's plans are already in motion."

"So what, are we just gonna sit around and wait for them to invade?"

"Of course not. Once we get our information back to the village, we'll figure out a way to beat them. They may have caught us by surprise last time, but that's not going to happen again."

Naruto's thoughts drifted back to the events of three years ago. So much destroyed... so many people killed, like old man Hokage. He thought of Konohamaru. He'd taken his grandfather's death so hard. He thought of the funeral... all of those sad faces... all of those people dressed in black... all of those tears. He didn't want anything like that to happen ever again.

He looked over at Kakashi, reclining on his bunk, reading his perverted 'Make Out' novel. "Hey, Sensei...?"

Kakashi turned his attention back to the boy. "Hmm?"

"A lot of people are... gonna die... aren't they?"

For a few moments they just looked at each other. Kakashi sighed. "Yeah, they probably are."

* * *

Hinata awoke the next morning, still with the prickling sensation in her chakra pathways. She and Sakura had both spent a whole day and night recovering. Both were exhausted and had done little but sleep. Hinata looked out through the porthole. The early morning sun stung her eyes as it glittered on the water. She turned away and lay back down on her bunk.

The girl began running over the events of that night in her mind; the first time she'd really done so since it happened. She couldn't remember having pushed herself so hard before. So many times she'd trained herself to what she thought was her limit. She'd even collapsed from chakra exhaustion once or twice. But that night, she went far beyond what she thought she was capable of.

The battle with the mist ninja played over and over in her head. How did it happen? How was she suddenly able to see their chakra points? She remembered the strange feeling she'd had in her eyes before it happened. Her eyes seemed to be telling her that they wanted more chakra, as though they were only half full. Then she began to wonder if she could do it again.

Hinata sat up and looked over at Sakura, still asleep in her bunk. 'Maybe I could do it right now?' the girl thought. She stood and stepped over to the pink haired girl who lay on her stomach, breathing softly. Slowly and carefully, Hinata began to feed chakra into her byakugan. The prickling became worse, but she ignored it. Soon, the glow of Sakura's chakra well appeared before the girl's eyes. More came into focus as she gradually increased the flow. Hinata concentrated on the needle wounds on Sakura's back and shoulders. They looked like they were healing well. Then she focused on a small part of her back, looking for the chakra points that she knew were there. At first she couldn't see them, so she fed more chakra into her eyes. Gradually they began to show, like stars appearing in the night sky after dusk. But she'd been able to do that before.

During the battle it had been different. All of the mist ninja's chakra points had been perfectly clear. Hinata hadn't needed to look for them. They'd almost seemed to leap out at her. But now it was taking all of her concentration just to pick out one or two. The young Hyuuga couldn't understand what was wrong. She tried to push more chakra into her eyes, but it was like there was something in the way, restricting the flow. She pushed harder and harder, but nothing happened. It felt as though her eyes were already using as much of her chakra as they could, and simply couldn't take any more.

Hinata made one last push to try and break through the barrier, but her vision just started to blur. She staggered backwards a few steps, dizziness threatening to overcome her. 'Why can't I do it?' she wondered, as she held her throbbing temples. 'What was so different before?'

The air in the cabin felt heavy and stale. Once the pain had receded a little, Hinata pulled on her jacket and headed for the door, opening it quietly so as not to wake her sleeping friend. She stepped outside and carefully slid it shut behind her. Hinata made her way down the hall and up the stairs to the deck. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she stepped over to lean against the railing. The cool morning breeze felt heavenly. The girl closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh sea air.

"Hey, Hinata," a familiar voice called out to her.

The young Hyuuga turned to see Naruto waving to her, his trademark grin spread wide across his face. Already the blush was rising in her cheeks when he joined her by the railing.

"Great, you're up," he said, beaming at her. "I was getting worried about you."

Her blush deepened as he reached her side. 'He was worried about me?'

"So you're feeling better now, right?"

"Um, y-yes... thank you," she mumbled.

The boy leaned forward and looked at her intently. "Hmm, you look a little red. Are you sure you're okay?"

His sudden closeness did nothing to reduce the colour in her face. "Um... I'm s-still a little t-tired," she stammered, shrinking back slightly.

He stood straight and grinned again. "Yeah well you deserve the rest. You did great the other night."

She smiled a little, tapping her index fingers together. "Th-thank you, Naruto."

His smile was replaced with a look of concern. "Oh yeah, what about Sakura, is she gonna be okay too? Man she was really hurt, wasn't she? Please say she's gonna be okay."

'He's worried about Sakura as well,' she thought. Her heart sank a little, though she felt guilty for it. "Um, I th-think she'll be alright. She's still asleep."

He let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. She looked like she was hurt really bad. You know I'm glad you were there."

She looked up at him timidly. "Y-you were?"

"Yeah. I mean if you weren't there... Well who knows what could have happened." He smiled, but the fear in his voice was clear. "It's a good thing we had two med nin in our group."

Hinata looked at her feet. "Um... well... I'm n-not really a med nin."

Naruto was confused. "Huh? Then how did you fix her up like that?"

She tugged at the hem of her jacket, still looking at the deck. "Well... you see... S-Sakura taught me some medical skills while we were coming over on the ship."

Naruto gaped at her. "So you only just learned a few days ago?"

Hinata nodded meekly, afraid of what he might think.

"That's amazing!" he exclaimed. "You must learn really fast! And you must be super smart too. Whenever Sakura talks about all that medical mumbo jumbo, I have no idea what she's saying. You've gotta be a genius if you can learn all that complicated stuff in just a few days."

Hinata's face went bright pink. All she could do was twirl her fingers and smile.

The boy grinned from ear to ear as he continued. "And then there's the way you handled those mist ninja. Man, that was incredible! I mean you barely touched them and they just dropped! How did you do that?"

At that, Hinata's smile began to slip. "Um... well um... I... I don't know," she mumbled.

"Huh?" The boy furrowed his brows at her again. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

Hinata looked away from him. "Well I... s-struck their ch-chakra points," she said at barely a whisper.

"Whoa, you mean like Neji?" he said, remembering his battle with the Hyuuga prodigy. "That's so cool! Isn't that supposed to be really hard?"

She nodded. "I c-could never do it before. Only a few members of my clan can do it."

Naruto looked at the girl in awe. "Hinata, you are just incredible! You must be one of the strongest in your whole clan. I can't believe you learned medical ninjutsu and how to do that chakra point thing, all in less than a week. You're awesome!"

The girl just looked at her feet, her face tinged with sorrow. "No... I-I'm not," she mumbled. "I d-don't think I can see chakra points anymore."

"What do you mean?"

The girl shrugged. "I d-don't know how I did it, and now I can't seem to do it again." She gave a heavy sigh. "I tried to look at Sakura's chakra points, but I just couldn't see them. I don't know why. It just..." She closed her eyes and put a hand to her temple. "It hurts t-too much. I'm not... I'm not s-strong enough." She tried to hide the tear that trickled down her cheek.

Hinata jumped when she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder. She looked up into the dazzling blue eyes of the boy in front of her. "Don't worry, Hinata," he said with a warm, encouraging smile. "I know you're a lot stronger than some people think. I bet if you just try hard enough you can figure it out, no problem."

Her heart was racing. She felt a tingling warmth spread from her shoulder into her whole body. 'He really believes in me.' A smile spread its way across her lips. His words sank deep into her heart, wiping away all doubt. She knew she could do it. As long as he believed in her, she could do anything. Perhaps even the thing she feared most.

Then before she realised it, his hand slipped from her shoulder and he turned away. "Well, I'll see yah later, Hinata. I'm gonna go see what Kakashi sensei's doing."

"Wait," she called after him.

"Hmm?" he looked back over his shoulder. "What's up?"

"Um... well I..." Her heart beat even faster, her blush deepened even further. "I w-wanted to t-tell you..."

He turned back to face her. "Tell me what?"

But again she found herself lost in those sparkling cerulean orbs. Again the words caught in her throat. "Well I... I j-just... w-wanted to..." Those piercing eyes overwhelmed her, she couldn't think, she couldn't speak. She lowered her gaze to the deck. "To th-thank you... for c-catching me... and c-carrying me to the ship." On the outside she was smiling, but on the inside she was crying. 'I still can't say it.'

"That's okay, Hinata." He grinned at her again. "You're my friend. And like I said, I always look out for my friends." And with one last wave, he turned and walked away.

Hinata sighed to herself as he disappeared from view. 'It's alright,' she told herself, 'Someday I'll be strong enough.'

* * *

"Hey, Sakura, you sure you're gonna be okay?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Sakura replied. She smiled at the dark haired girl next to her whose shoulder she'd borrowed for support. "I've been treated by the best."

Hinata blushed slightly at the compliment.

The four stood by the docks in the small fishing port where they'd started their journey. They were finally back in the Land of Fire after their two day voyage.

"Alright then, let's get a move on," Kakashi said, taking the lead. "We'll take it easy, but we don't want to slow down any more than we need to."

The three teenagers soon fell in behind him and they began to make their way home.

It took them another five days travel before the gates of Konoha finally came into view. Naruto beamed at the sight. He looked over at the two girls, Sakura leaning heavily on Hinata's arm. Both smiled in relief.

"Alright, mission accomplished!" the boy proclaimed. "Let's get over to grandma Tsunade's, quick. We should be done just in time for lunch."

* * *

"Satou Chishio and Kusari Assaiki..." Tsunade hissed through her teeth. Her hands balled into fists. "In league with... Orochimaru!" She stared at her desk, her whole body shaking with pent up fury. "As if we weren't having enough problems." She took a deep breath and let her head drop into her hands. "Things just keep going from bad to worse."

"There is some good news," Kakashi said. "They're still not in complete control of the Land of Water yet. And they're not planning to make their move for another two years."

"Hmm, well that's something," Tsunade sighed. "We'd just better make sure we put that time to good use."

"Hey, Grandma Tsunade, who are these Satou and Kusari guys, anyway?" Naruto asked tentatively.

Tsunade looked up at him, frowning at the use of her nickname. Fortunately for him she brushed it off. "Shizune," she yelled, "have you found those files yet?"

"Just a second," Shizune called back from the next room. A few moments later she burst through the door carrying two folders. She squeezed between Naruto and Kakashi and placed them on Tsunade's desk. "Here they are, Lady Hokage."

Tsunade snatched them up and opened the first. "That him?" she asked, turning the open file toward Kakashi.

The jonin looked intently at the photograph before nodding. "That's him, alright. Kusari Assaiki."

Tsunade dumped the first file on her desk and opened the second. "And this is Satou Chishio," she laid the file out in front of them, "head of the Hidden Mist Village's Chishio clan and now, apparently, the new Mizukage."

Naruto leaned forward to look at the file. "So what's so great about this guy?"

Tsunade took a deep breath before answering. "The Chishio clan were once one of the most influential clans within the Hidden Mist Village. They were a noble clan, possessing a Kekkei Genkai."

"Kekkei Genkai..." Naruto breathed. He passed a sideways glance at Hinata. "What kind of Kekkei Genkai?"

"That's what's interesting," Tsunade said, stroking her chin in thought. "We have no idea."

"Huh?" Naruto looked at her quizzically.

"The Chishio clan's Kekkei Genkai was said to be extremely rare," she continued. "Though their clan wasn't small, the bloodline ability itself only manifested in very few of its members, perhaps only one or two per generation. What's more, the clan went to extreme lengths to keep the secrets of their unique ability to themselves. It's said that only a handful of people within the Hidden Mist Village knew anything about it. And even within the clan itself, few were aware of its exact properties."

Naruto continued to stare at her with a puzzled expression. "But didn't people see them using it? I mean they must have used it in battle or something, right?"

"Well there were plenty of attempts by other hidden villages to learn the secrets of their bloodline, but as far as we know, none of them were successful. In any case it didn't seem to matter much. The last known user of the clan's bloodline trait died over thirty years ago. After that the Chishio clan lost much of its influence. Without their Kekkei Genkai, they were just an ordinary clan with no particular status or privileges."

"Well then, what's the big deal?" the boy asked. "If nobody can use it anymore then what does it matter?"

"That's what's so interesting about Satou," Tsunade answered. "From the moment he became leader of his clan, he is said to have made it his mission to recover the clan's bloodline trait and restore their honoured position within the village. Then about eight years ago he disappeared, along with a few members of his clan and his prised student, Kusari Assaiki. Nothing was heard of them until two years ago, when he and Kusari suddenly reappeared out of nowhere. Since then, the Chishio clan has rapidly risen in influence within the Mist Village."

Sakura looked up from her seat by the window. "So do you think he managed to recover it? The bloodline trait, I mean?"

"Well we can't say for sure," Tsunade answered. "But it would make sense. It's something to look into at least. But for now that can wait." She closed the files and put them aside. "Was there anything else, Kakashi?"

"That's all the important things," Kakashi said. "But I would like to make a special note about our additional team member."

Hinata turned to look at him in surprise.

"Hinata's abilities were invaluable to the success of our mission, and her overall performance was superb," he stated. "In fact, without her, I'm not sure we would have all made it back home in one piece."

"Really?" Tsunade turned to the girl with a curious smile.

Hinata could hardly believe her ears. 'Is he really talking about me?'

"What's more," Kakashi continued, "it seems she and Naruto make a good team. They worked together to get Sakura and I out of trouble more than once."

Tsunade's smile widened. "Is that so?"

"Sure is!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hinata is awesome. I'd have her on our team anytime."

"Oh, and you might be interested in this." Kakashi produced a large scroll from his pack and placed it on the Hokage's desk. "Hinata was able to make a detailed map of the Feudal Lord's entire palace complex. I recommend that it be added to our archives. It would certainly come in handy for any future missions."

Hinata's cheeks were burning under the light of all their praise. She could only smile timidly as she tugged the hem of her jacket and looked at the floor.

"Hmm..." Tsunade mused as she looked at the young girl, "very interesting. I look forward to reading your full report, Kakashi. But for now it looks like you could all use some rest. Excellent work, dismissed."

The group filed out of the Hokage's office and made their way out into the midday sun.

"Alright, guys, let's celebrate," Naruto said eagerly. "C'mon, let's all go out to lunch together."

"Not me," Sakura replied wearily. "I just want to get home and rest. I'll see you all later." She gave Hinata one last smile before leaving.

"I'll have to pass, too, I'm afraid," said Kakashi. "I really should get on with my report." And with a puff of smoke he was gone.

"Well, Hinata," Naruto said, turning to the blushing young teen, "looks like it's just you and me."

* * *

Authors Notes:

Sorry about the late update. I kept getting an error message when I tried to open the edit story page.

To the person who asked: _NO_ I did not kill off uh... what's-her-name, the excessively hot Mizukage. Remember that this chapter was written in 2008, well before she appeared in the manga (did I mention that? no, I guess I didn't... sorry). Nobody knew who the other Kages were back then (other than Garra). Maybe Satou killed off her predecessor? I may even include her in the story at some point. I haven't decided yet.

Hope you enjoy. The next chapter will conclude the current arc. Plenty more to come after that, though.


	13. Prove Yourself

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 1

Chapter 13: Prove yourself

'Don't panic. Just don't panic.' Hinata told herself as she walked down the street alongside the blonde haired boy. 'He asked everyone to come. So just because it's only the two of us, it doesn't mean it's a... _date!_' She tried to fight down the rising warmth in her cheeks, and failed miserably.

"Hey, Hinata, are you there?" the boy asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Huh?" Hinata snapped out of her thoughts. She'd been so busy trying not to pass out that she hadn't noticed he'd asked her a question.

"I said, where do you want to eat?" Naruto repeated.

"Oh... uh, I thought you were going to decide. Because you um... i-invited me."

"Yeah but I chose last time, so it's only fair that you get to choose," the boy said with a broad grin. "We can eat anywhere you like. And don't worry, I'll pay for everything."

Hinata's heart fluttered a little. 'He's paying? No, it's still not a date. Just because he's paying, it doesn't make it a date.' She felt her knees begin to tremble and decided she'd better find a place quickly so she could sit down before they gave way. "A-alright." She looked around and pointed at the first place she saw. "Um, r-right there would be fine."

Naruto turned to where she was pointing. "Oh yeah, that's Chouji's favourite barbeque place." Before she knew it, he'd grabbed her by the hand and started leading her toward the restaurant. "I could eat some barbeque. Let's go."

Hinata's heart was beating frantically. It took all her effort not to stumble as she tried to keep up with him.

Soon they were taking their seats, facing each other across the table. Hinata barely managed to clear her head long enough to order. Naruto meanwhile, proceeded to order half the menu.

"So, Hinata, tell me about that chakra point thing you did," Naruto asked, while they were waiting for their food. "You said only a few members of your clan can do it. So besides you and Neji, who else can?"

Hinata looked down at her hands, which were fidgeting nervously. "Um, well my f-father, he's the best in the clan."

"Whoa! So he's better than Neji?" the boy said in awe. "He must be one of the greatest ninja in the village! What was his name again?"

"L-Lord Hiashi," she replied quietly.

"_Lord_ Hiashi?" he said in surprise. "Oh that's right. You're like part of the 'main branch' or something, aren't you? And your father is the head of the whole clan."

Hinata just nodded. This was never a subject she liked to talk about.

"Hey wait. Does that mean _you're_ gonna be head of the clan one day?"

Again, Hinata just nodded.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm really glad that we're friends, Hinata."

She looked up at him with a mixture of surprise and happiness. "Y-you are?"

He grinned widely at her. "Yeah, because when you're head of your clan, and I'm the Hokage, we're gonna get to do all sorts of important stuff together. It'll be great!"

Hinata felt a smile tugging at the edge of her lips. The thought of doing anything with Naruto in the future gave her butterflies. But still, doubts weighed upon her heart. "Um, well... I'm n-not really sure if I will be the next clan leader though."

"Hmm? Why not? Who else is it gonna be?"

Hinata looked down at her hands again. "Well... I have a younger sister, Hanabi. She's very strong, and my f-father could choose her instead," she mumbled.

"Oh..." He could tell she was depressed about that. "But can she do that chakra point thing?" he asked.

"Um, n-no."

The smile returned to his face. "Well then she can't be as strong as you," he declared. "Once you figure out how to strike chakra points like you did before, I'm sure your father will pick you to be the next clan leader. Then we can both work together to lead the village and stuff."

A pleasant tingling flowed down Hinata's neck and shoulders. She returned the boy's confident smile as she imagined the two of them working side by side. That, she thought, would be worth all the hard work and training in the world.

All of a sudden she was yanked out of her daydream, when a mass of white fur appeared through the window next to them. "Akamaru!" she yelped in surprise. The enormous dog barked loud enough to shake the table before sticking his head in and trying to lick her cheek.

"Hey, Hinata!" Kiba called as he ran over to their window. "C'mon, Akamaru, calm down." He pulled the dog back before leaning through the window himself. "Where've you been? We've been back from our mission for days." Shino soon appeared behind the Inuzuka boy.

"It's good to see you're feeling better, Hinata," the bug tamer said, his voice almost devoid of emotion, as always.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Naruto said, waving to get Kiba's attention.

"Naruto?" Kiba said, noticing the blonde for the first time. He looked back and forth between the two of them, sitting alone at the table. "What are you two doing here together?"

Hinata held her breath. 'Oh no! Please don't ask if we're on a date!' She could feel the heat rising in her face. 'Don't say date. _Please_ don't say date!'

"We just came back from a mission together, so we thought we'd have lunch," Naruto answered, much to Hinata's relief.

"Here's your order," the waiter announced, as he placed several large trays of food on the table.

"Alright, perfect timing!" Naruto exclaimed. "Why don't you guys join us? It's on me."

"Awesome! Free food!" Kiba shouted, before rushing around to the front door.

"Thank you, Naruto, that's very generous," Shino said in his quiet, monotonous voice, before making his way much more calmly to the entrance.

Hinata smiled as Kiba dropped into his seat next to Naruto and immediately started shovelling food onto his plate. She then made room for Shino who took his place next to her. She was glad to see her friends after so many weeks, but at the same time was disappointed that they had to show up right when she was alone with Naruto.

"So what have you guys been up to?" Naruto asked as he started laying short ribs on the grill.

"While Hinata was in the hospital, we were assigned a C rank mission," Shino answered.

Kiba groaned and slumped his shoulders. "Man, that was boring. We had to guard this Feudal Lord's messenger while he travelled all around the Land of Fire. We were stuck with that guy for weeks!"

"It was an uneventful mission, but a successful one. We should at least be glad that we were able to do our duty, Kiba," Shino said, glaring at the Inuzuka from behind his glasses.

Kiba just shrugged. He snatched a half cooked short rib off the grill and stuffed it in his mouth. "So what about you two, what kind of mission did you get?"

"Oh you know, nothing special," Naruto replied in a nonchalant, sing song voice, "just an A ranked mission to the Land of Water where we infiltrated the Feudal Lords palace and uncovered a plot by the Sound and Mist villages to launch an invasion."

Kiba nearly choked. "_A_ ranked!"

Shino raised an eyebrow at the grinning blonde boy. "Invasion?"

Both sat in stunned silence while Naruto enthusiastically recounted the events of that night. Hinata ate quietly, trying not to blush whenever he praised her achievements.

"I had no idea how strong she is now!" Naruto exclaimed. "She fought three mist ninja all by herself. Took them out with just one blow each, it was the most awesome thing I've ever seen!"

Hinata tried to shrink back into her seat when she found Shino and Kiba staring at her.

"One blow each?" Kiba said around a mouthful of food. "How did you manage that?"

Naruto was grinning from ear to ear. "Go on, tell them, Hinata."

The young girl fidgeted with her chopsticks and looked down at her plate as she answered. "Well I uh... I s-struck their ch-chakra points." Her voice was barely audible.

Kiba gaped at her, a strip of beef hanging half way out of his mouth. "But I thought you couldn't do that."

"Um... I'm still not sure how I did it," she mumbled. "I-It just sort of happened."

"Hmm... It seems your special training has begun to pay off," Shino mused. "I was beginning to wonder if it was worth the additional effort you were putting in."

Naruto gave the bug master a questioning look. "Special training?"

"Not long after you left with Master Jiraiya, Hinata began a new training regimen," Shino explained. "Although it was physically demanding and caused her frequent injuries, she insisted on continuing. She said she wanted to prove herself to somebody, though she wouldn't say whom."

Hinata shrunk back even further into her seat. She glued her eyes to her plate, not daring to look up into those deep blue eyes that now directed their gaze at her. She silently prayed that he wouldn't guess who that person was.

Naruto looked at the girl, fidgeting with her chopsticks. 'She wanted to prove herself to somebody?' The thought played around in his head. 'Who could it be?' But he was broken from his contemplations when a strip of meat flew past his eyes, before being snapped out of the air by a large, hungry dog.

"So what happened after that?" Kiba asked, picking another piece off the grill and tossing it out the window to Akamaru.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Naruto quickly forgot about his previous train of thought. "That chakra point thing wasn't the only new trick she learned." Once again, that mischievous grin spread across his face. "When we were on the ship going over to the Land of Water, Hinata learned medical ninjutsu."

"Medical ninjutsu? Hey wait," Kiba frowned at the girl, "I thought you didn't want to learn medical ninjutsu. You said you weren't interested in it. You gave up on your medical training after less than a month. Even Kurenai Sensei couldn't talk you into it."

Again, Hinata just sat in silence, staring at her plate. Kurenai had indeed tried to convince her to continue her medical training. In fact, it had been her sensei that had suggested it in the first place. When Hinata finally revealed her reasons for quitting, Kurenai had even gone to speak with the girl's father in the hopes of changing his mind, but to no avail.

"Hmm..." Shino looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well it's a good thing she changed her mind," Naruto continued. "Sakura got hurt really bad. And if it hadn't been for Hinata she would have been in serious trouble." He went on to describe Sakura's injuries and Hinata's efforts to heal her. The boy's story was exaggerated a little bit, but the girl was too embarrassed to correct him. He loudly praised her actions, making her blush deepen further and further. "Yah know, you guys are lucky," he said with an obvious hint of jealousy. "I wish Hinata could be on my team all the time."

At that Hinata couldn't help but smile. She'd always dreamed of being on Naruto's team, working with him, training with him, seeing him almost every day. And now he just admitted that he wanted the same thing. She stole a look at the boy, who was still grinning from ear to ear. She found his smile contagious and smiled a little wider herself.

"Hey, back off," Kiba said jokingly. "She's our team mate."

"Indeed," Shino added. "Hinata is an important member of our squad. Her skills are invaluable to our strategy and teamwork."

"Aw c'mon, it's not like I'm gonna steal her from you or something." He nudged Kiba in the shoulder.

Hinata looked up at her friends and smiled openly. She had never felt so appreciated before.

The four teenagers spent the next half-hour or so laughing and joking, reminiscing about missions they'd had when they were younger. Soon the food was gone and they all started to head home.

"Bye, Hinata. We'll see you at training tomorrow, right?" Kiba asked as he climbed onto Akamaru's back.

"Um, yes. I'll see you then," she replied with a wave.

"Good day, Hinata. And thank you again for lunch, Naruto," Shino said, before he also left. And once again Naruto and Hinata found themselves alone.

"Um, well... I sh-should be getting home, too," Hinata mumbled, shuffling her feet nervously. "Th-thank you for lunch, Naruto. I... h-had fun."

The boy grinned at her as usual. "No problem, Hinata. I had fun, too."

The girl smiled softly in return. "Um, g-goodbye, Naruto."

The boy watched her as she started to walk away. But there was something that still bothered him about their conversation over lunch. "Hey Hinata, wait up."

"Huh?" The girl stopped in her tracks and turned.

"Uh, would you mind if I walked you home? There's something I want to talk to you about."

Her heart skipped a beat. The memories of the last time he walked her home filled her mind. "Um... a-alright," she squeaked.

The two young ninja walked together, side by side, down the narrow winding streets of Konoha. The girl kept her head down trying not to blush and stealing the occasional look at her companion. The boy, though, just shuffled along with his hands in his pockets, his brow furrowed in thought.

"Uh, Hinata," he finally said, "Kiba said you didn't want to learn medical ninjutsu, before. Why not?"

Hinata sighed. "Because... my f-father didn't want me to," she answered hesitantly. A look of sorrow crossed her face.

"Huh? I don't get it, why not?"

She felt a hint of moisture at the corner of her eye. "It's not the way of my c-clan," she said quietly. "W-we are a clan of warriors, n-not healers. As the heir, I must uphold tradition. My f-father said I must put all my effort into developing my fighting skills." She held back a shiver. "If he finds out th-that I've been learning medical ninjutsu... h-he would be angry with me." The girl spoke in a nervous whisper, almost as if her father was listening right then.

"But why?" the boy asked, confusion etched on his face. "I mean Sakura is a med nin, and she's the strongest girl I know. And what about Grandma Tsunade? She's like the greatest medical expert in the world, and you wouldn't believe how powerful she is. You could be a medical ninja and still be a strong fighter."

Hinata shook her head slowly. "The Hyuuga way is difficult. Only by focusing all of your time and energy on it can you ever become a true master. Th-that's what my f-father says."

"Hmm..." Again, Naruto furrowed his brows in thought.

The pair continued walking in silence. Soon the walls of the Hyuuga manor came into view. They stopped and turned to face each other.

Slowly Hinata tried to lift her gaze to meet his, but stopped when she reached his black and orange chunin vest. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Oh, um... w-wait right here, Naruto," she said before running inside.

"Huh? Wait what..." the boy trailed off when she disappeared from view. He could only wonder at her strange behaviour.

A few minutes later she returned, a familiar looking jacket held over her arm. She smiled as she held it out to him wordlessly.

"My jacket! I actually forgot about it." He chuckled and grinned sheepishly as he took it from her.

Silence descended around them for a moment. The grin faded from the boys face. "Hinata..."

She finally gathered the courage to look into his eyes. "Hmm...?"

"The person you wanted to prove yourself to. It was your father, wasn't it."

Her whole face reddened. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. This was the chance she'd been waiting for. "Um... n-no..."

"Then who?"

His ocean blue eyes seemed to wash over her. She fought for the breath to say what was in her heart. "I-it was... you."

"Me?" He looked back into her soft lavender orbs. "But... why?"

"I... I..." Her chest felt heavy. Her throat felt tight. She was drowning in those twin cerulean pools. She wanted to say it. She needed to say it. But her lips could not form the words.

Then it was too late. She heard footsteps behind her.

"Welcome home, Lady Hinata."

She pulled herself away from his enveloping gaze and turned to face her cousin. "Th-thank you, Neji."

The Hyuuga prodigy looked her over before turning his attention to the boy. "Good afternoon, Naruto. I see you were kind enough to escort Lady Hinata home again." His expression hardened.

Naruto shrunk under his cold, piercing glare. "Uh, sure... any time." He forced a laugh.

"Indeed," Neji replied dourly. He turned back to the girl. "Please come with me, Lady Hinata. Your father wanted to see you as soon as you returned from your mission."

Hinata nodded into her chest. Slowly, she followed her cousin to the gate. As she walked past the threshold she paused and gave one last look at the boy. With a wave and a hint of a smile she stepped through the gate and out of his sight.

* * *

Flickering candles gave faint illumination to the carved stone chamber. The pale skinned Sannin regarded his most trusted servant as he entered. "Welcome back, Kabuto," he said with a sickening smile. "I trust your mission was successful."

"Very," The spectacled ninja replied. "The first stage of our plan is complete. Everything is proceeding on schedule."

"Well done. And you are sure they will proceed with the invasion?"

"They will. I made certain they understood." A smirk played across the young man's face. "And even if they don't, our objectives should still be met."

"Hmm?" The snake man raised a curious eyebrow.

Kabuto's smirk grew wider. "I ran into some old friends of ours - team Kakashi. It seems they overheard our plans and have made their way back to the Leaf Village."

Orochimaru grinned devilishly. "Excellent!" His pointed tongue flicked out of his mouth and slithered its way across his lips. "That should certainly set things in motion."

* * *

Authors Notes:

Right, we're back on schedule. Here's the last chapter of Volume 1. Don't worry, though. Like I said before, this isn't the end of the story. I just divided the whole thing into volumes to make things easier and more organised. Barring any more obstacles, I should be able to start uploading the next volume in a week or less.

Hope you enjoy.


	14. Friends In Need

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 2

Chapter 14: Friends in need.

Broken rays of sunshine cut through the clouds, trying to warm the village of Konoha. The young man dragged his feet as he wandered through the streets. His black chunin vest hung open, letting in the cool morning breeze. Hands thrust in his pockets, he shuffled along aimlessly.

"Man I'm bored," he announced to nobody in particular.

In fact, he'd been bored an awful lot lately, though it certainly wasn't from a lack of missions. Ever since he'd come back from the Land of Water he'd been on almost twice as many as usual. All he'd been doing for the last several weeks was training and taking missions. At first he'd thought that was exactly the way he liked it, but he soon realised he was missing out on something more important. He'd hardly seen his friends at all.

Everyone was getting more missions these days, not just his team. Whenever he was home everyone else seemed to be away. Sakura was putting in extra hours at the hospital, not that she ever wanted to spend much time with him anyway. And Kakashi had never really been the most sociable person. Even Iruka Sensei seemed to be busier than usual. It'd been a couple of days since he'd really sat down and talked to someone.

He stopped by a large tree on the side of the street. Putting his hands behind his head, he leaned back against it and stared up at the clouds. 'I can't believe I'm actually sick of missions and training,' he thought to himself. 'I'd hang out with just about anyone right now, even Ino!' He shuddered at the thought of actually spending time with the pushy, loud-mouthed blonde. 'Okay maybe not Ino. But I wouldn't mind hanging out with Shikamaru,' he thought as he watched the clouds drift lazily across the sky, 'or Chouji. I'd even be willing to buy him lunch,' he thought with a chuckle. 'And then Kiba's always fun to hang out with, even If boring old Shino's tagging along.' A smile slowly spread its way across his face. 'And I definitely wouldn't mind seeing...'

He snapped his head around when he caught the sight of lavender cloth and a wisp of dark hair out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, Hinata!" he called out as he dashed off toward the fence where he'd seen her disappear. "Hinata, wait up!" he shouted, grinning from ear to ear. He skidded round the corner. "Hey what've yah been doing? I haven't seen you in..." he stopped in his tracks when the brown eyed young woman turned to face him. The smile dropped off his face and was replaced with a look of disappointment. "Oh... sorry, lady... thought you were someone else."

The boy sighed heavily as he turned and walked away. 'Hinata... I wonder what she's been doing these past few weeks.' He remembered their big mission to the Land of Water... the conversations they'd had on the ship... the way they'd rescued Sakura and Kakashi... the fight with the mist ninja... the meal they'd shared with her team. 'I wonder if she's figured out that chakra point thing yet. Yeah, I bet she has.' His smile returned. 'Hey, maybe I should go to her house and see if she's home.' He paused at the thought of her angry-eyed cousin. 'Maybe not.' He was still trying to figure out why Neji had seemed so mad at him. 'But I still wouldn't mind seeing her.'

* * *

Hinata's heart pounded in her chest, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She pushed herself to keep up with the others as they leapt through the trees, running from their assailants. A fresh quiver of fear gripped her when she looked over at Kiba, draped over Akamaru's back. He clung weakly to the dog's fur. The black fletched arrow shaft still protruded from his thigh, and his trouser leg was soaked in blood.

"Hinata, are they still behind us?" Shino called, raising his voice just enough to be heard over the rushing wind.

Hinata tore her eyes away from the sight of her injured friend and focused her byakugan. She scanned the path behind them as best she could, though her concentration was shot to pieces by fear. She could see no sign of the four rogue Cloud ninja that had ambushed them. "I-I'm not sure, b-but I think we lost them."

"Alright, let's stop for a minute. We've got to see what we can do for Kiba."

The bug tamer dropped down to the forest floor below. Hinata landed beside him and took one last look behind before turning back to her friends. She was fighting to recover her breath and noted that Shino was doing the same. Her whole body was trembling with fear and adrenaline. "Th-those Cloud ninja, they were the same ones we fought before, weren't they?" she said, putting a hand to the faint scar on her side that she'd received a few months earlier.

"Yes, but I don't remember the one with the bow," Shino answered as he carefully lifted his wounded companion off Akamaru's back and laid him out on the ground. Kiba grimaced in pain. Sweat was pouring down his face and neck. "That one is a jonin, for sure. We'll be in serious trouble if they catch up to us," Shino said coldly.

Hinata hugged herself around the waist, still shaking. "I w-wish Kurenai Sensei was here."

"That can't be helped," said Shino. "We're just going to have to handle this on our own. First, let's see to Kiba."

Kneeling by his side, Hinata refocused her vision to check the injury. She suppressed a gasp as the viciously barbed arrowhead came into view, buried deep in his thigh.

"Can you remove it?" Shino asked.

"I... I can try," Hinata answered hesitantly. She struggled to control her trembling hands as she drew a sharp curved knife from her weapons pouch. Carefully she cut back the blood soaked cloth around the arrow shaft.

"Hey... those were my second best pair," Kiba grunted through clenched teeth.

Hinata smiled weakly. Kiba always tried to cover his pain with humour. She did her best to calm her breathing, and examined his wound more closely. A lump rose in her throat when she realised what she would have to do. "K-Kiba... I can't just p-pull it out. I have to... I have to c-c-cut it out," she stammered.

He grinned, his eyes squeezed shut. "Hey, no problem. Just hurry up and get this thing out of me."

She nodded, trying to suppress the tears. "B-bite down on this," she said, offering him the leather bound grip of a kunai knife. He gritted it between his teeth and prepared himself for the coming pain.

Kiba's sharp canines bit deep into the leather. Akamaru whined sympathetically, worried by his master's muffled grunts of pain. Shino kept the massive dog from getting too close while Hinata did her work.

The fledgling medical ninja did the best she could with her limited knowledge. Hinata winced with each tiny cut she made in her friend's flesh. She had to remind herself again and again that she was helping him more than she was hurting him.

Finally the pointed steel head came free. Hinata laid it aside before making hand signs. She placed her hands over the wound and carefully began closing it with her chakra. Within a minute she was done. She applied a layer of her healing ointment to fight infection, and bandaged the area. "I think that's it," she said with a deep breath. "L-let me just check." Again she focussed her eyes to look beneath the skin. But something was wrong. She looked closer at his chakra pathways around the wound. For some reason his chakra wasn't flowing normally. "His chakra network... s-something's not right."

She picked up the arrow and examined it carefully with her byakugan. Her heart suddenly felt cold. Inside the head she could see a tiny reservoir containing a liquid laced with chakra. Her hands began trembling uncontrollably. She felt moisture well up behind her eyes as she turned to Shino. "P-p-poison!" she whispered.

Shino's expression hardened. He looked down at Kiba's face, now pale from loss of blood, and still dripping with sweat. "Do you know how to treat it?"

Hinata choked back the tears. "I... I d-don't... I n-never learned... I... I..."

"Try to stay calm," Shino said, firmly but gently. "They may not be able to stop it, but my friends should at least be able to slow the poison down."

Hinata watched with her enhanced sight as a swarm of tiny microscopic parasites flowed from the bug tamers fingertips, slipping between the bandages and into Kiba's bloodstream.

Kiba groaned, letting the kunai fall out of his mouth. "Aw gross," he said weakly. "Do you have to?"

Hinata wiped the sweat off his brow. "D-don't worry, Kiba. We're only a day's journey from the village. Akamaru can carry you. W-we'll be just fine."

Shino took a deep breath and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not sure it will be so easy."

She looked up at him apprehensively. "W-what do you mean?"

Silently he held out his left arm, indicating a small tear in his sleeve.

Hinata gasped in horror when she saw a slight trickle of blood staining the cloth. "Oh, Shino, no," she whispered as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"It's only a scratch, but I can already feel my arm starting to go numb."

"No..." Hinata sobbed. Panic began to rise within her at the thought of watching her friends slowly dying before her eyes. Her whole body began shaking. Tears streamed down her face. "No... No..."

"Hinata!" Shino gripped her arm firmly. "Stay calm! We're all going to be fine. We just have to keep our heads and think of the best way out of this."

She forced her breathing to slow and wiped her face with her sleeve. "A-alright," she stammered. "W-what should we do?"

Shino's eyebrows furrowed. He flexed his fingers and examined his injured arm. "My friends are doing the best they can to slow down the poison. I should be able to keep moving for another few hours at least." He sighed. "But it doesn't look like I'll be able to make it all the way back to the village."

"Th-then Akamaru and I will have to carry both of you."

Shino shook his head. "That won't work. Akamaru can't carry both of us, and you can't carry me without slowing down. They'd catch us before we got anywhere near the village." He reached into his pack. "Our only option is to call for help and find a place to hide until it arrives."

Hinata watched as he pulled out a scroll, opened it and laid it on the ground in front of him. He then drew a kunai, made a small cut on his thumb and ran a streak of blood down the length of the paper.

"I hoped I'd never have to use this," he said, as he made hand signs then pressed his palm flat on the scroll.

"Summoning jutsu: Lightning Dragonfly!"

With a puff of smoke, a long slender bug about the size of Shino's index finger appeared. It hovered for a moment before landing on his outstretched hand. Holding it close to his face, the bug master stared at it intently. Hinata thought she could hear a faint buzzing sound, though she wasn't sure if it came from the bug or the summoner. Several seconds later, the creature spread its wings and took off into the sky. Both watched as it spiralled upwards above the treetops. Then, with a flash, it burst off in the direction of Konoha, leaving a zigzagged yellow trail behind.

"It should reach the village within an hour or so," Shino said, pulling himself to his feet. "We just have to stay away from those Cloud ninja until our backup finds us."

Suddenly Akamaru's ears pricked up and he began sniffing the air. The huge dog turned to the prone form of his master and growled.

"Smells like they're on to us," Kiba groaned.

"Hinata?" Shino looked to her for confirmation.

She immediately focused her byakugan, and soon picked up the four Cloud ninja moving through the trees toward them. "They're coming."

Acting as quickly as he could, Shino began hefting his wounded team mate off the ground and onto Akamaru's back. "Let's get moving."

* * *

"Lady Hokage!" the brunette shouted as she burst into the office.

Tsunade lifted her head up off the desk and stared at her assistant blearily. "What is it, Shizune?" she groaned, still half asleep.

"Wake up!" Shizune scolded. "We just received an urgent message from Elder Makoto of the Aburame clan." She shoved the scroll under Tsunade's nose.

The Hokage rubbed her eyes and skimmed the message. In an instant her drowsiness vanished. She read the scroll again before fixing her assistant with a serious glare. "Get me team Kakashi!"

* * *

'Another mission,' Naruto thought with disinterest as he climbed the stairs to the Hokage Tower. 'Well it's better than wandering around the village being bored.' He waved to Shizune lazily as he passed her desk before entering the Hokage's office. Kakashi and Sakura were already waiting. Tsunade was frowning at him, which wasn't unusual. "Hey, Grandma, what's going on?"

"Shut the hell up and listen!" she yelled. "This is serious!"

The boy snapped to attention, trembling slightly under the Hokage's withering gaze.

"We just received an urgent distress call from team Kurenai. They've been ambushed by a group of four rogue Cloud ninja."

'Team Kurenai?' Naruto thought. 'That's Shino, Kiba and... Hinata!'

"Two of their team have been injured," Tsunade continued. "They've requested backup and emergency medical attention."

Sakura started to say something, but Naruto interrupted her. "Which ones?" he blurted out. "Which ones have been injured?"

"Kiba is incapacitated. Shino has suffered minor wounds," the Hokage replied. "However," she turned her attention to Sakura, "both have been afflicted with an unknown poison."

The young med ninja nodded. "I'm on it."

"What about Hinata, is she okay?" the boy asked in earnest.

"Hinata is the only able bodied team member left, apart from Akamaru," Tsunade said. "The team is still on the move for the moment. But due to the effects of this poison, they don't expect to be able to make it back to the village. Their attackers are still pursuing them, so they plan to hide out somewhere and lay low until backup arrives."

"Hmm... rogue Cloud ninja?" Kakashi mused. "Do we know who they are?"

"We don't have any specifics," Tsunade replied, "but one of them is believed to be of jonin rank." She picked up a scroll and tossed it to Kakashi. "Here's everything we know, along with their last known location."

Naruto clenched his fists and scowled at the floor. 'Damn rogue ninja!' Anger began to boil within him. 'They hurt my friends. They're gonna pay!'

"You'll have to head for that location and track them from there," Tsunade continued. "Your mission is to find team Kurenai and bring them back home for proper medical attention." She then focused her gaze on Naruto. "Now remember, this is a rescue mission. Try to avoid battle if at all possible. You are not to engage the enemy unless absolutely necessary. Is that clear?"

The boy frowned at her for a moment before turning his head away. "Yeah, I got it," he snorted. 'But if I get my hands on them...' he thought.

"Naruto!" Tsunade barked. "This is about protecting the lives of your fellow shinobi, _not_ revenge! The priority is to bring team Kurenai back home. Don't let your anger get the better of you." Her voice turned cold. "You know what that can do to people."

They all knew exactly what she was talking about, or rather _who_ she was talking about. Anger and revenge had already claimed one member of their team. Naruto sighed and looked at his feet. "Yeah... I know," he said quietly.

A moment of silence descended over the room. The Hokage looked each of them over before she spoke again. "Alright then, this is an A ranked mission. I expect you to be out of the village within half an hour."

The village of Konoha quickly disappeared behind them. Kakashi took the lead, with the two teenagers on either side. Nobody said a word, their thoughts all focused on the task ahead. This was no time for arguments or small talk. Their fellow shinobi, their friends, were in danger. Their lives were in their hands.

Naruto fixed his eyes on the path ahead. 'Alright, Grandma, I'll let them get away this time, even if they did hurt Shino and Kiba.' He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. 'But if they lay one finger on Hinata...'

* * *

Authors Notes:

Okay, here's the start of volume 2. A new plot thread and a new challenge for our heroes.

Wow, that sounded cheezy. Please rate and review.


	15. Twilight

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 2

Chapter 15: Twilight (nothing to do with sparkly vampires!)

The forest grew dim as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Four ninja leaped through the trees, their eyes straining to make out the trail left by their quarry.

"Damn it!" one of them cursed. "Ain't no way we can track 'em in the dark."

"Yeah, c'mon let's stop for the night," said another. "My back is killing me."

The first man sneered at him, clenching his massive fists. "Ah shut it, Riku!" he snapped. "I'm sick of all your whinin. We got us a job to do here, fool."

"_I'm_ whining?" retorted the second man. "You're the one complaining that we can't track them in the dark, Kenta." His thin weasely face twisted into a sarcastic smirk.

"Yeah whatever, bitch," the one called Kenta replied with a snort. "So what's your vote, Takumi?"

The third man glanced over at him from under his tattered hood. "I wasn't aware that this was a democracy," he replied in a flat gravelly voice before turning back to the path ahead.

"Okay then, why don't you ask the boss if we can stop for the night?" asked Riku, still with an air of sarcasm in his voice.

"If you wish to ask our leader a question you are free to do so," said Takumi, without averting his eyes from the trail.

Without a word, the fourth member of the group landed on a tree branch and motioned the others to halt.

"What's up, boss man?" asked Kenta. "We ain't stoppin already, are we?"

"Yes, we are," the fourth Cloud ninja replied, shouldering his ornate recurved bow. "As you said, the light is fading. I'm not interested in blundering around the forest at night."

"Finally!" Riku exclaimed, stretching out his back.

"What!" protested Kenta. "Are you saying we's just gonna let those Leaf bitches go?" He slammed a fist into his open palm, frowning at his leader in frustration.

"Oh they won't be going far," the archer answered, waving a hand dismissively. "Not with two of them suffering the effects of my poison."

Riku halted his stretches. "Hey, I thought you only shot one."

"It seems you weren't paying attention, Riku," said Takumi, who was standing to the side impassively. "The one harbouring the insects was also wounded."

"Keen eyes as always, Takumi," their leader noted, watching the last sliver of sunlight disappear behind the mountains. "It was only a scratch, but with my poison on the arrow, it'll be enough to slow him down."

Kenta folded his enormous arms across his barrelled chest. "They ain't gonna die, are they?" he asked with a look of disgust. "We need at least one of 'em alive."

Their leader fingered the string of his bow with one hand while stroking his chin with the other. "Well I'd be surprised if the dog boy lasted the night. But the other one should live until this time tomorrow, if he's lucky."

Takumi slipped a strange looking dagger out of his tattered robes and began fingering the edge. Its curved blade was pitted and its grip scorched. "And let us not forget the young lady."

* * *

Hinata tried her best to ignore the burning in her lungs. She stayed close to Kiba as the group continued fleeing their pursuers. She watched the young man worriedly. Now too weak to hold on to Akamaru's fur, they had been forced to tie him onto the dog's back. 'Hold on, Kiba. Someone will come for us,' she silently told him, though the reassurance was more for herself.

A muffled grunt of pain and the sound of breaking branches drew her attention. Her head spun around to see Shino falling toward the forest floor. "No, Shino!"

Before she could dive after him, she saw the young man surrounded by a cloud of tiny black specks. A swarm of bugs poured from Shino's sleeves, slowing his decent and lowering him gently to the ground.

Hinata dropped down next to him, followed by Akamaru and the barely conscious form of his master. "Shino, what happened? Are you alright?"

The bug tamer groaned as he tried to pull himself to his feet, only to fall again. "Th-that's it," he grunted through his teeth. "I... can't keep running anymore. The poison's... s-spread too far."

Hinata focused her byakugan. She could see the discolouration of the chakra-laced poison slowly working its way through his system. It seemed to be choking off his chakra pathways. Thousands of microscopic parasites stood in the way, trying to block the poison's progress, but they were gradually losing ground. "H-hold on," Hinata said, her voice quivering, "I'll c-carry you." She took Shino's arm and lifted him to his feet.

"We can't... keep running." Shino said, breathing heavily. "The more we move... the faster... the poison spreads."

Hinata looked over at Kiba, laying over Akamaru's back, his breathing shallow. "S-so what do we do?"

"Exactly what we planned. We find a place to hide until our backup arrives."

"A-alright, I'll find something." Again Hinata focused her eyes, searching the surrounding forest with her enhanced vision. Her sight came to rest on a cave, a few hundred metres away. "Oh, I think I found something, a cave, not far off."

"That'll have to do," Shino said. "Let's move."

The last faint glow of twilight was fading when they reached the mouth of the cave. Hinata took one more look inside then checked their surroundings for their pursuers. "I think we're clear."

Shino's breathing was becoming more and more laboured. "Good work... Hinata."

She helped him crawl through the small opening and sat him against the wall. The interior was dark and cramped, but at least it was dry. She crawled back out and untied Kiba's ropes. He was barely able to move, Hinata practically had to drag him inside. Akamaru followed, his massive frame just squeezing through the opening. There wasn't a lot of room for the four of them inside the tiny cave.

Hinata checked Kiba's wound, her Byakugan seeing almost perfectly in the dark. The poison had already spread throughout most of his chakra network. Shino's parasites were struggling to keep it from reaching his vital organs.

She suddenly felt all of the day's exertion begin to catch up with her. The urge to lie down and rest was overwhelming. She hadn't felt so tired since her escape from the Land of Water. Then her thoughts turned to him.

Naruto... She wished more than anything that he were there with her. He would be strong. He would know what to do. He would protect all of them. But he wasn't there. It was all up to her. Shino and Kiba needed her. Their lives were in her hands. They needed her to be strong. They needed her to protect them.

'I'll do it, Naruto,' she thought to herself. 'I'll protect them, just like you would.'

* * *

The stars began to fade and the sky brightened as morning twilight heralded the arrival of dawn. A blonde haired young man stood watching the horizon. Impatience was clearly etched on his face, as though he was willing the sun to hasten its accent.

His companions began to stir from their slumber. Sakura crawled out of her tent, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She squinted at the boy through the morning gloom. "Naruto, did you sleep at all last night?"

He didn't answer her. He just stood with his back to her, still watching the horizon.

She staggered over to him, joints and muscles stiff from sleeping on the hard-packed ground. "Hey, are you okay?"

There was a moment of silence as he continued staring out into the distance. "Sun's almost up," he said at last. "We should be moving by now." His voice was low and quiet.

The pink haired girl studied his face, hard to see clearly in the pre-dawn grey. She recognised a look on his face that she rarely saw. His usually cheerful façade was gone; replaced with a cold heavy stare, betraying a hint of fear and uncertainty. She hadn't seen that look since they had been sent to rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. They're gonna be fine."

Again he didn't answer. Sakura slipped her hand off his shoulder and turned to watch the horizon along with him.

Gradually, the first sliver of sunlight started to crest over the distant hills. "C'mon," he said, turning around suddenly, "let's pack up and get moving."

Within minutes the three were all up and continuing on their way. Like the previous day there was no idle talk. This was the day that counted; the day that would decide if their friends would live or die.

* * *

A thin stream of sunlight broke through the forest canopy, waking Hinata from her slumber. She shook off the drowsiness and crawled out of the cave into the open. The sun was high. She hadn't meant to sleep so long. The girl silently cursed herself and quickly focused her byakugan, scanning her surroundings for any signs of danger. Their pursuers were nowhere within her range. For the time being, they were safe. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned around and crawled back inside the small cave to check on her team.

She went to Kiba first. The girl dreaded looking at his chakra network. Every time she did, it was as though she was watching his life gradually slipping away. Hinata told herself it wasn't as bad as it could be, though she wasn't really sure if it was a lie. His breathing was shallow but steady.

While she was still checking Kiba, Shino began to stir. Hinata turned to him. "Shino, are you doing okay?"

He tried to sit himself up against the cave wall. "I can't feel my left arm at all," he groaned. "My friends are fighting as hard as they can, but it doesn't look like they'll be able to stop the poison by themselves."

Hinata helped him into a sitting position. "I... I'm sorry," she whispered. "If only I'd learned more about p-poisons I could..."

Shino looked at her sternly. "Don't blame yourself, Hinata. There is no point in dwelling on what we can't do. We have to focus on doing everything that we _can_ do."

Hinata nodded, trying to hold back the moisture in her eyes.

"So did you cover our trail?" he asked.

"Um, y-yes. And I laid a false trail, leading toward the village." She reached for a canteen. "And I found some fresh water."

"Good work," Shino said, reaching for the canteen with his good arm. He took a small sip. "And did you get some rest?"

Hinata lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, I... I slept too long."

"It's alright. We all need to rest." He handed the canteen back to her. "Make sure you give some to Kiba."

Her face darkened. She glanced over at the young man, lying beside her.

"How is he doing?" Shino asked hesitantly.

"I ch-changed his bandages," she answered, "but the p-poison..." Her lower lip began to tremble. "He's g-getting worse, b-but I think he'll hold on... for a while at least," she stammered, still trying to hold back the tears.

Shino reached out his good hand and held her wrist. He looked her squarely in the eye. "They're coming, Hinata. Someone will come to help us before the end of the day. We are all going to get out of this."

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. She had to believe it. She couldn't afford not to. Someone was coming to help them. They were all going to be fine. But doubt still gnawed at the back of her mind.

A slight groan drew her attention back to Kiba. She quickly moved to check on him. "Kiba, are you alright? Do you need anything?"

Kiba tried to speak, but only began coughing weakly. Akamaru nuzzled against him.

"Oh, here I'll get you some water." Hinata grabbed the canteen, lifted his head and carefully gave him some water to drink.

He sipped it slowly. After several slow breaths he tried to speak again. "The... bad guys... show up?" he wheezed.

"N-no, we're safe," she answered, wiping the sweat off his brow. "They haven't found us yet."

"To... bad." He tried to grin through the obvious pain. "I think I'm... ready... for round two."

Hinata smiled a little, though she was ready to burst into tears. "D-don't worry Kiba. Our backup is on its way."

Suddenly, Akamaru pricked up his ears and began sniffing the air. He turned to Kiba and growled.

"Smells like... someone's coming," he groaned.

Hinata felt her mouth go dry. She immediately focused her byakugan to search the surrounding forest. 'Please be our backup,' she silently begged. 'Please...!' She caught sight of a chakra signature, then another, then two more. A stab of fear shot down her spine when she saw who they were. "It's th-them," she whispered as though they were right outside, "the C-Cloud ninja!" Her hands began to tremble. "Th-they've split up. Th-they're searching the forest." Her heart was racing as she turned to Shino. "A-and they're heading this way."

Shino took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye. "Hinata, you know what you have to do."

She shook her head, moisture welling up at the corners of her eyes. "No... I can't."

"It's our only option," Shino stated.

"No..." she squeaked, burying her face in her hands.

Shino grabbed her by the arm. "Hinata, you can't fight them all by yourself. If they find us here, we'll all die!"

She looked up at him, tears now streaming down her face. "I d-don't want to leave you."

"Hinata," Shino calmed his voice and looked her in the eye again, "we can't afford to wait anymore. You won't be able to protect us if you stay here. You have to try to draw them off. I can barely stand, and Akamaru wouldn't be much use without Kiba. We can't run and we can't fight. This is our only option."

Hinata knew he was right. In this situation, the best strategy was to attempt to draw the enemy away, to buy more time for backup to arrive. And she was the only one that could do it. The girl wiped away her tears. She knew she had to be strong. 'If Naruto was here, he would do it,' she thought. 'He wouldn't be afraid. He'd do it to protect his friends, and that's what I have to do.' She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "A-alright. I'll do it."

Shino nodded. He could tell she was ready.

"Hinata..."

She turned to Kiba, leaning close so she could hear his hoarse whisper.

With some effort, he managed to reach his hand into his shuriken pouch and pull out a tiny capsule. "Take this."

"W-what is it?" she asked.

"Soldier pill," he answered. "Be careful... It's a special... recipe. Very... strong."

She took it hesitantly. She'd never liked using soldier pills.

"Emergency... only," Kiba breathed. He reached out to her. "Good... luck."

She took his hand and squeezed it firmly. "D-don't worry. I'll be fine." She turned to Akamaru, put a hand on the dogs head and scratched him behind the ears affectionately. "Look after them, Akamaru." Then she turned to Shino. "I'll do my best."

"I know you will," he said. "I trust you with my life."

"Me... too," Kiba said.

Akamaru whined and nuzzled her arm.

Hinata felt tears behind her eyes again. "Th-thank you." She crawled to the entrance and gave them one last wave. "I'll... I'll s-see you soon."

She couldn't stop the tears from flowing as she covered up the entrance and made ready to leave. Once again, she focused her byakugan and found her enemies gradually drawing nearer.

'Don't worry, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru. I promise I'll protect you. You're my friends, and I always look out for my friends.'

* * *

Authors Notes:

Okay first of all, about the title. I'll remind you all once again that this story was written ages ago. I'd never even heard of that book with the sparkly vampires when I picked the title for this chapter. I decided to call it twilight because a lot of the action takes place during twilight, the period of time before dusk or after dawn. No hate, please.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy the chapter. It's mostly just a quick build up for the coming fights, but you do get to meet the bad guys. No prizes for guessing who Kenta is related to.

Provided that the site has no more problems, I should be uploading the next chatper within a few days. Feel free to fling an angry review at me for leaving you on what could be considered a cliffhanger (oh if you only knew).


	16. A Life's Worth

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 2

Chapter 16: A life's worth

"Alright, this is the place," Kakashi said, dropping down to the forest floor. "Team Kurenai sent the distress call from somewhere around here."

"What now?" the blonde boy asked bluntly.

Sakura looked at him with a hint of worry. He hadn't laughed or made a joke, or even smiled since they'd left the village.

"Now we have to track them from here," Kakashi answered him. He drew a kunai and made a cut on his thumb. Drawing some blood, he ran a stripe across his palm and made a series of hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

With a puff of smoke, a diminutive pug-nosed dog appeared before them. "Hey, what's up?" Pakkun said with his typical lack of interest.

"Pakkun, our friends are in trouble, we gotta find them fast!" Naruto said urgently.

"Whoa, hold your horses, kid. Let me see what I can smell." His wrinkled nose twitched as he sniffed the air. "Hmm... Alright I got something."

"Did you find them?" asked the blonde.

"There's a strong scent over that way." The dog pointed with his paw. "Smells like blood."

A look of concern crossed Naruto's face. "Blood...?"

"Let's get moving," Kakashi said. "Lead the way, Pakkun."

"Right." The short-legged ninja hound took off into the woods, three Leaf ninja close behind.

Minutes later they found the source of the scent, a deep red stain on the ground surrounded by sandaled footprints and oversized paw prints.

"Smells like it's about a day old," commented the ninja dog.

Something metallic caught Naruto's eye. He crouched down to pick it up.

"Don't touch it!" Sakura warned when she saw what it was. She knelt down and carefully picked up the arrow with her gloved hands. "The report said Kiba was injured - must have been with this." She held the black fletched arrow up to the light, examining it carefully. "Look at the head," she indicated the strange shape which suggested a hollow space inside, "it could have been used to deliver the poison they mentioned."

Kakashi studied the arrow thoughtfully. "Hmm... poisoned arrows with black fletching..."

"Hey," Pakkun called their attention, "how many people were you looking for, anyway?"

"Three humans and one ninja dog," Kakashi answered.

"Well I'm picking up one dog and at least seven human scents around here," said the pug.

A look of fear crossed Naruto's face. "The Cloud ninja, they're still after them." He rose and looked at Pakkun sternly. "How far?"

The ninja dog sniffed the air. "Don't know, too far for me to smell them. Must be several hours away at least."

"Well come on, let's get moving!" Naruto yelled. "They're in serious trouble. We gotta help them, now!"

"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi said firmly.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" the boy snapped at him. His fists were shaking and his blue eyes flashed menacingly.

For a moment there was silence. Kakashi met the boy's eye, his masked face set firm.

Naruto heard the silent message. He unclenched his fists and looked at the ground. "Yeah... I got it," he said into his chest quietly.

'Okay, let's find them as fast as we can," said the jonin. And with that they leapt off into the woods, on the trail of their friends.

* * *

'Byakugan!' Her enhanced sight pierced through the wall of wood and leaves, picking up the presence of her enemies in seconds. They were moving slowly, searching the forest for any trace of their quarry. The four were spread apart to cover more ground, but still close enough to come to each other's aid in a matter of seconds. In less than an hour they would be right on top of her friends. Hinata knew she had to draw them away as soon as possible.

'If they're spread out, maybe I can ambush one of them,' she thought. 'Even if I just injure one, it would slow them all down. Then maybe I could stay away from them until our help arrives... But which one...?'

She focused on each of them in turn, starting with the one closest to her; a tall, slim man in his late twenties. His hair was long and pale-blonde, almost white. He wore attire of neutral browns and dull, muddy green. A cape fastened over his chest bore a wide collar that rose to cover his chin. But what Hinata noticed immediately was the long recurved bow he held in his hand and the black-fletched arrow already nocked, ready to fire. A shiver ran down her spine. He was the one that shot Kiba and Shino. Those black-fletched arrows were dripping with poison. He was a jonin, stronger than the rest of them, and certainly stronger than her. 'No, I wouldn't stand a chance against him.'

She moved on to the next one; a broad shouldered hulk of a man with dark skin. His deep red hair was slicked back against his skull. He had a pair of metal bracers strapped to his forearms, while his legs bore heavy steel greaves. A frown of impatience and frustration was set on his thick brows as he scanned the forest. 'He looks almost as scary as the first one,' Hinata thought with a shiver.

But when she moved on to the next, her entire body froze. A tattered brown cloak was draped across his narrow shoulders. His arms, hands and face were all covered with bandages. A row of wicked looking knives were strung across his belt. But it was his eyes - his cold, grey, lifeless eyes, peering out from under the ragged hood – which turned her blood cold.

Hinata unconsciously clutched her left side with both hands when she remembered her last encounter with him. The wound was now no more than a pale red streak across her skin, barely noticeable. But she could still remember, still feel, the jagged metal blade piercing her flesh, the shock of seeing so much of her own blood pouring out of her. She remembered looking into those eyes as she fell to the ground before him. They were cold, empty and lifeless, yet fixed on her in some kind of sick fascination, as though he were studying her. Those eyes were the last thing she'd seen before waking up in her hospital bed back home.

'No... not him... anyone but him!'

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before turning her enhanced sight upon the last member of the group; a scrawny pale-skinned man with a narrow face and short, scraggly beard. He jumped lazily from branch to branch, looking around half-heartedly. Hinata watched him stop for a moment. The rogue Cloud ninja stretched his arms up over his head and yawned. He stood around for a few seconds, looking up into the branches above, swinging a kunai around his finger. An expression of boredom was plastered across his weasely face.

'He looks tired,' Hinata thought, a glimmer of hope rising in her heart, 'and he's not paying much attention. He doesn't look much bigger than me either.' She watched him for a few more moments while he reluctantly continued his search. 'If I have a chance against any of them, it'd be him.'

Hinata took a deep breath and readied herself for the coming fight. 'I can do this. I have to do this!' She clasped her hands together and tried to push down the rising feeling of apprehension. 'Shino and Kiba are counting on me. I can't let them down... Not this time.'

* * *

"Damn Leaf Village brats," the rogue cloud ninja cursed under his breath, "Can't believe I've got to spend all day crawling through this stinking forest, looking for a bunch of kids." He continued his half hearted search, his tired eyes lazily scanning around for any tracks or other signs of the young ninja. He failed to notice that one of those very ninja was watching him from above.

Hinata pressed her back further against the tree she was hiding behind. She was sure that if the Cloud ninja didn't see her he would definitely hear her thundering heartbeat. She held her breath as he moved closer and closer to the web of near-invisible ninja wires she had strung out across his path. 'Just a little further,' she silently begged. 'Just one more step.'

The cloud ninja stopped in his tracks when he felt something tug at his leg. He looked down to see the faint glint of a ninja wire. His head snapped up again as a metallic click sounded to his right, followed by a faint whistling sound. Acting on instinct, he threw himself backwards, raising his arms to cover his face. A barrage of shuriken burst out of the trees, flying straight toward the spot he had stood an instant ago. He avoided most of the deadly projectiles, taking just one serious cut across his left arm.

Hinata watched as the ninja leapt clear of her trap. 'This is my chance,' she realised. 'I have to attack him now before he recovers.' With one last breath, she dove down from her perch above, straight toward her enemy.

The rogue ninja gripped a kunai with his good hand. He looked around frantically for his assailant, his tired eyes now wide open. Again a whistling sound came to his ears, this time from above.

Hinata's aim was true, but her opponent was quicker than she expected. Again he dove out of the way as she dropped down upon him. She rolled to the side when his kunai came flying straight at her head. Recovering quickly, Hinata gathered her chakra in her palms and charged.

"I've found her, I've found the girl!" the man shouted as he reached under his coat.

Hinata lunged at him, aiming a jab at his chest. But again the former Cloud ninja was too quick for her, twisting out of the way at the last instant. As she tried to press home her attack, her eyes caught the glint of steel between his fingers.

Trying to keep the Hyuuga girl at a distance, the Cloud ninja leapt back again. A volley of shuriken flew from his hands. He grunted in pain. The three from his left arm went wide.

Hinata ducked under the three projectiles that flew straight. She noted the grimace of pain on his face as he attacked, but that wasn't all she saw. Though her eyes were facing her enemy, her byakugan could easily track the path of shuriken curving around behind her. She could even see the incredibly fine strands of wire that connected them to the ninja's fingers. She leapt straight up, avoiding the closing net of steel.

The rogue ninja sneered when he saw his bluff fail. Sweeping his arms around, he redirected the path of his shuriken, up toward the girl.

Hinata could now see the true extent of her opponent's skill. Her byakugan showed her the thin strands of chakra running along the length of the wires. Grabbing the nearest tree branch, she swung herself out of the path of the shuriken, now coming toward her again. Seeing her enemy's technique, she drew a kunai and struck out at the wires as the shuriken passed by. Severed from their master's control, they flew harmlessly off into the forest.

The rogue ninja cursed under his breath, detaching the broken wires with a flick of his wrists. Again he reached under his cloak.

The young kunoichi readied herself for another attack, but stopped short when a second chakra source entered her field of vision. The hulking brute with the slicked red hair was charging through the trees toward them, just seconds away. Hinata didn't have to look to know the other two would be right behind him. Time had run out. She had to get away now before they all showed up. The girl dove back into the trees, drawing more kunai as she ran.

Another volley of shuriken flew from the rogue ninja's fingertips. This time they spread out and came at the girl from all directions at once. Hinata weaved her way through the trees, ducking and diving to avoid the shuriken as she fled. One by one she struck out and severed the chakra infused wires that would have been almost invisible without her byakugan.

Again the rogue ninja cursed as the last of his wires was cut. But he'd held her off, giving his team mates time to arrive.

Now they were after her. The second ninja charged past the first, taking the lead. Hinata knew she had to stall them. She'd never lose them if they stayed so close. The huge, dark-skinned ninja was closing the distance.

Leaping toward another branch, Hinata turned in mid flight and threw one of her kunai, not at the pursuing ninja, but into the trees to the side. Another volley of shuriken cut through the air, this time aimed at Hinata's new opponent. Caught off guard by the missiles, he barely managed to defend himself. Shuriken glanced off his steel bracers. He made to continue pursuit, but paused when Hinata again threw kunai into the surrounding forest. Both rogue Cloud ninja dove for cover as more shuriken traps were triggered.

With her enemies distracted, Hinata took her chance to escape. But as she leapt off into the trees, away from her first two assailants, a third appeared at the edge of her vision. Far to her right stood the long haired archer, his thin lips curled into a smile. She caught sight of him just as he released his bowstring.

Hinata's blood ran cold at the sight of the black-fletched arrow flying toward her. Caught in mid jump, she knew she couldn't avoid it. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the paths of her and the deadly projectile converged. Everything else in the world faded away as the arrow bore down on her. She could almost see the poison dripping from the barbed head. Without thinking, the girl twisted her body to face the attack. Whether it was instinct, luck, or the hand of some higher power that made her move, it saved her life. Sparks flew as the arrow glanced off the steel plate of the Leaf Village headband that hung around her neck. She could feel the fletching brush her ear when it sailed past her face.

Her conscious mind could hardly understand what had happened. But there was no time to think as the girl made good her escape. She looked back in a daze at the man that almost took her life. He simply stood there, watching, as she disappeared into the trees, a hint of a smile curling his lips.

* * *

"Damn, that kid almost had me!" Riku exclaimed, clutching his wounded arm.

Kenta sneered. "Couldn't even handle one little girl, yah little bitch!"

"Oh yeah, my hero, rushing in to save the day," Riku retorted sarcastically. "Charging off after her like that almost got you killed, too."

Another figure dropped to the ground beside them. "It is never wise to underestimate one's opponent," Takumi said in his dreary monotone.

Kenta scowled at him. "Don't start preachin to me, mummy man!" he said to the bandaged ninja. "And where the hell were you, anyway?"

"Quit your squabbling," called a voice from the trees above. "We now have a trail to follow. I'd like to find her before it gets dark, this time." The archer squatted on an overhead branch, his ornate recurved bow laid across his knees.

"But boss, I'm hurt," said Riku, indicating his arm.

The archer smirked. "Then perhaps you would like Takumi to take a look at it?"

Riku's narrow face paled as he turned to look at the cold-eyed man next to him.

"Well, Riku, do you need medical attention?" Takumi said flatly, fingering one of his knives.

"Hell no!" Riku answered firmly, taking a step away from him. "You're not gonna touch me, freak!"

"Then let's get moving," called the archer, motioning with his bow for them to follow. "Let's try not to make this day a complete waste, shall we?" With that he leapt off into the trees, followed closely by his three subordinates.

* * *

Pale yellow sunlight washed over her as the girl burst out of the woods and into the open. Piles of crumbling stonework littered a broad clearing at the base of a hill. Her sandals clattered on cracked and overgrown flagstones. It appeared to be the ruins of a large courtyard. A broad stone stairway snaked its way up the hillside. Her eyes followed its winding path as it climbed between the trees. Barely visible in the distance, she could make out the jagged shape of some vast, ancient structure standing on the hilltop above.

Hinata slumped back against a broken pillar, breathing heavily. The chase had been going on for hours, and now the sun was hanging low on the horizon. She could feel the dull ache of fatigue throughout her entire body. The previous days chase, her lack of sleep, and the recent battle had all taken their toll. She was fading, there was no denying it. She focused her byakugan and looked back down her trail. There they were, close behind her. They were moving together now. She'd have no chance of making another ambush.

'I couldn't even beat one of them,' she berated herself. 'I had surprise and time to prepare, but I still couldn't do it.' A familiar weight settled in the pit of her stomach. 'Why do I have to be so useless? Why do I always fail at everything important? Why can't I be strong enough, just this one time?' Hot tears began to build up behind her eyes. 'My friends needed me, they trusted me, but I let them down again. Just once I wish I could do something right.' She hugged herself tightly and began to sobbing into her chest. 'I wish I wasn't so scared, but I just don't want to die.' Her whole body began to shake uncontrollably as the fear overtook her.

She had to get away. She had to hide. Through the blur of tears she scanned the buildings on the hilltop above, searching for a hiding place. Crumbled stone walls, empty structures with roofs long since collapsed and piles of blackened rubble were all she found. There was no place to hide up there. They would find her in an instant.

She spread her vision wide, searching for some way to escape, some sign of help on its way, any small shred of hope. But she found nothing. Her friends couldn't save her. Their backup was too far away, if it was coming at all. She'd tried everything she could think of to lose her pursuers, but nothing had worked. Time was running out, soon they would be upon her. She couldn't outrun them, she couldn't hide from them, and she couldn't hope to fight them. They were going to catch her, and kill her... or worse.

One by one she thought about her friends. Kiba... Shino... Kurenai sensei... Sakura... and... Naruto... 'If only I could be more like him,' she thought. 'He wouldn't try to hide or run away. He wouldn't be afraid of them. He would stand up to them, even if he was sure he would die.' She wiped her eyes and looked up at the sky, the deep blue sky that always reminded her of his dazzling cerulean eyes. 'Naruto would never abandon his friends. He would do anything for them, even give up his own life... And that means I have to do the same.'

Slowly she rose, clasping her hands in front of her chest. 'I'm not going to run. I'm not going to give up. I'm going to protect my friends... even if I die!'

Clearing her head, she concentrated on the task that stood before her. Again she focused her byakugan. They were getting closer. She didn't have much time to prepare.

Hinata checked her remaining weapons, one kunai and a few shuriken. But then she found something else. She pulled out the small capsule. 'Kiba's soldier pill.' She looked at it carefully. _'Only in an emergency,'_ he'd said. _'Very powerful.'_ She knew soldier pills were dangerous, but now it didn't seem to matter.

Hinata closed her eyes and gave one last thought to the golden haired boy with the sparkling blue eyes. 'Naruto... I wish you could watch me now. My only regret... is that I never told you how I feel.'

* * *

Authors Notes:

Um... So here's the new chapter. Not much else to say here.


	17. Blinding Flame

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 2

Chapter 17: Blinding flame

'No more running... No more hiding... No more watching from the side... No more waiting to be rescued... No more feeling sorry for myself... And no more tears...!'

The girl looked up to the reddening sky. She watched the sun as it slowly began to descend behind the ancient stone buildings on the hilltop in the distance. She closed her eyes for a moment and let herself bathe in the last few rays of warm sunlight. 'I'm not going to let them down this time.'

Reluctantly Hinata turned back to face the forest. The Cloud ninja would arrive soon. There was nothing left to do. She looked down at the capsule in her hand. 'It may be dangerous,' she thought, 'but if it helps just a little, if it gives me the strength to hold them off for a few moments longer, then it'll be worth it.' She unscrewed the cap and rolled the tiny black pill into her hand. She took a deep breath and gingerly placed it on her tongue. It burned.

She resisted the urge to spit it out immediately. Her natural reflex kicked in and she swallowed. Hinata could feel the pill burning its way down her throat. A fit of coughing overcame her. She clutched her stomach, which suddenly felt like a fire had been started inside. The heat spread rapidly to her lungs and heart. She gasped for breath, still coughing uncontrollably. The burning sensation spread throughout her entire body. Her heart pounded in her ears and sweat began to pour off her face. The heat was overwhelming her. Hinata threw off her jacket and fell to her knees.

She'd tried a soldier pill before, but it was nothing like this. The chakra build up was incredible. Hinata felt sure she'd have to release some of it immediately or it'd consume her from the inside out. Chakra poured into her eyes and her byakugan flared into life, but the amount was too great for her to control. Everything she saw was blurred and distorted, her focus shifting in and out. Everything around her seemed to be moving, as if the air itself was burning. Hinata tried to reduce the flow of chakra to her eyes, but it was like holding back the ocean. She tried to concentrate and focus her vision, but the rippling haze only intensified.

All sense of time was lost to her. She gripped her head in her hands, pulling at her indigo hair and gritting her teeth against the overwhelming pressure. The sound of her heartbeat pounded in her ears, growing louder and louder. Her temples pulsed with the enormous flow of chakra. She thought her chakra pathways were going to burst under the strain.

Then in an instant, everything stopped; the pain, her breathing, her heartbeat; everything. For a brief moment her vision became clear. She saw something in front of her, like a shadow or a wisp of cloud. It looked almost like a man standing with his back to her. He seemed to be wearing a kimono, and his long hair was blown by a breeze she couldn't feel. Indistinct though it was, the rippling outline seemed familiar to her.

Slow as the setting sun, the figure began to move. He lowered himself into a pose the girl could never mistake.

'The Gentle Fist stance?' she thought, mesmerised by the apparition. 'Father...?'

As if hearing her silent thought, the figure turned its head to face her. The distorted face became clearer. She saw a long wispy beard and thin moustache. He was old, at least as old as her grandfather. There was a clear resemblance in the sharp angular features to the Hyuuga of the main branch, but she'd never seen this man before.

His eyes - his clear pupil-less eyes - locked with hers. He could see her. His thin, wrinkled lips curled into a sad smile.

Then without warning she was engulfed by what felt like a wave of dense hot air. Her vision was overwhelmed by an intense flare of white light. All around the girl, white flames danced. Her skin prickled and crawled. She tried to cry out, but her body was still frozen. The mysterious figure disappeared behind the sheet of blinding flame, still smiling.

Hinata drew in a huge lungful of air. It felt like she'd been drowning. She looked around and found everything as it should be. The white flames and mysterious apparition were gone. Her heart continued to pound, but was gradually beginning to steady. The heat was still radiating throughout her body, but she was almost starting to get used to it. She pulled herself to her feet, wavering slightly, and shook her head to try and dispel the dizziness.

Then she saw them.

Four men stood in the trees at the edge of the clearing, looking down on her. The archer with the long blonde hair stood at the front, the slightest hint of a smirk playing across his lips. "So, young lady, I see you've been waiting for us," he called out from his perch in the branches. "Very good. I was hoping we could end this chase before nightfall."

Hinata gave no answer. Her heart was beginning to race again and her chest heaved with her deep, heavy breaths. She could feel the temperature rising inside her even further and felt beads of sweat running down her face and neck. There was no time to contemplate her confusing vision now. Glaring at her enemies with all the determination she could muster, she spread her feet and took up the stance of the gentle fist.

"Hmm... so you _do_ plan to resist," the archer said, barely loud enough for her to hear. "Very well then." He turned to the three behind him. "Take her alive, and try not to do too much damage."

The other three leapt forward into the clearing. The muscular man with the leg and arm guards stood in front, facing her head on. He grinned maliciously and cracked his knuckles. "I think you better come along nicely, little girl," he growled at her. "Don't want this ta hurt more than it has to."

The weasel faced man that she'd fought earlier that day moved cautiously toward her left flank. Hinata noticed a rough bandage tied around his left arm. As before, he reached under his cloak and drew several shuriken.

And to her right, standing atop a fallen pillar, was the third ninja. Hinata had to suppress a shudder when she met his cold, lifeless eyes.

The tension in the air was palpable as the four shinobi eyed each other, each waiting for the first move that would open the battle. Hinata could feel herself trembling all over, though whether it was from the fear or the adrenaline, she honestly couldn't tell. The pressure in her chakra network was building again. Her vision started to waver. The girl knew she couldn't let herself get overwhelmed again. She felt the urge to move, to attack, to do anything to burn off some of the excess chakra. She focused on her eyes, gradually increasing the flow of energy. This time it worked, her vision became clear again. But the stress was gnawing away at her. She couldn't stand the tension for long.

Then it began. The bandaged figure to her right threw back his ragged cloak and clasped his hands together to form hand signs. At the same instant the scrawny man to her left unleashed a volley of shuriken, and the hulking brute to her front charged straight at her, roaring a battle cry.

At that moment her concentration wavered. Her heart jumped in her chest and her chakra surged. A pulse of energy flowed to her eyes and everything went white. Fear gripped her for an instant, but then the blinding light began to recede. She could see her enemies around her, their images blurred and distorted, half hidden behind a white haze. But they moved slowly, as if through water. She could see, to her right, the one making hand signs. Her byakugan pierced his skin, showing a boiling mass of chakra building in his lungs. To her left, the weasel-faced ninja throwing shuriken; her eyes could clearly make out the chakra strings flowing along the wires that tethered them to his fingers. She watched them move, tracing their paths. And in front, the broad-shouldered hulk, his chakra building up in his fists as he barrelled toward her. She knew what they were trying to do.

Then as suddenly as it came, the white haze receded. The ninja to her right exhaled a burst of roaring flame toward her. Shuriken came from her left sweeping around, above and behind her. She only had one path of escape, and she took it. The girl threw herself straight toward the muscle-bound man in front of her, charging her palms with chakra.

The Cloud ninja drew back a huge fist and sent it straight at her head. With both hands, Hinata forced the blow aside. His second fist came down on top of her. Hinata ducked in under his guard and thrust both palms up into his abdomen, sending a burst of her own chakra into his system. The man staggered back a few steps with a grunt of pain and raised his guard again. She'd hit him with all the force she could gather, but with her chakra barely under control she couldn't strike precisely.

Before either could make the next move, Hinata caught sight of the storm of tethered shuriken coming at her from behind. She could tell they weren't aimed at her directly but were curving around to trap her in the wires. Without turning she dropped flat on the ground, letting them pass over her head. Again she saw a large build up of chakra to her right, and she pushed off from the ground with all four limbs.

The ball of fire washed across the ground where she'd just been, scorching the stunted grass that grew between the broken flagstones. Hinata flipped backward in mid air and landed just a few feet from where she'd started. The weaselly man to her left growled in frustration as he redirected the path of his shuriken toward her again.

Hinata stood ready. With some of the pressure on her chakra network relieved, she was beginning to regain control. She could see the shuriken and their connecting wires with ease, and she decided it was time to be rid of them.

The girl focused her chakra into her palms, shaping it, sharpening it. She swept her arms around herself, forming the sphere of her Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. In a blur of motion she struck out at the projectiles with her chakra, smashing them and severing their wires. Slivers of metal clattered on the flagstones around her feet.

Again, silence descended upon the clearing. Hinata took a deep breath and brought up her gentle fist stance again, waiting for her enemy's next move.

The hulking brute to her front spat on the ground. "Damn, the little girl's got some fight in her." He stretched out his arms and cracked his neck loudly. "Yo, Skinny, Mummy Man. Maybe we should stop playin around, hear me?"

The scrawny one to her left snorted in agreement. "Told you she was tougher than she looks." He unclasped his coat and let it fall to the ground behind him. Touching his thumb to a trickle of blood seeping from his bandages, he ran a stripe across a tattoo on his forearm and made a series of signs. With a puff of smoke, a huge three-pronged shuriken of unusual design appeared in his right hand. He began spinning it over his head while at the same time appearing to hold something with his left.

Normal eyes would have seen nothing, but through her byakugan Hinata could clearly see the glowing chain, made entirely of chakra, that connected to the oversized shuriken. She knew that would not be so easily cut.

"Do remember, gentlemen," said the bandaged ninja to her right, in his flat gravelly voice, "it is important that we take the young lady alive."

"Yeah, yeah," replied the muscled brute as he took up his fighting stance and made ready to charge. "But I'm sick of playin around with these punk-ass kids."

"Hmm... I suppose it would be wise to end this before the light has completely faded," said the ragged-cloaked man in response. He drew a pair of blackened knives and fixed the girl with his cold, grey eyes. "Shall we?"

* * *

Daylight was beginning to fade as the three Leaf shinobi continued to follow the diminutive ninja dog through the trees.

Pakkun raised his nose to sniff the air. "I think I've got something. There's a strong scent on the wind."

"Who is it? Is it them?" the blonde boy asked in earnest.

Again the ninja dog sniffed the air. "There's five of them. I can smell sweat, smoke and a little bit of blood." He turned back to look at the three behind him. "It could be a fight."

"Where are they?" Naruto yelled with a clear note of panic. "We gotta get there, fast!"

Kakashi shot him a glare. The boy ignored him.

"I can't pinpoint their location yet, they're too far away," the dog answered him. "But it's somewhere to the east."

"Alright let's pick up the pace, everyone," said Kakashi.

"Hold on." Pakkun's nose wrinkled. "I've got something else, and its close."

"It might be the others," Sakura said. "Do you know where they are?"

"Yeah, I got them," answered Pakkun. "Smells like one dog and two humans... Or maybe there's two dogs, it's actually hard to tell."

"Kiba and Akamaru, and probably Shino as well," Sakura said. "We've got to head there first."

"What?" Naruto shouted in protest. "But the other one must be Hinata! She's fighting all by herself. We can't just let her take on four guys alone!"

"Did you forget Shino and Kiba are poisoned?" Sakura retorted. "They may not have much time left."

"Sakura's right," Kakashi stated. "Hinata probably left the others to draw off the Cloud ninja. We should see to Shino and Kiba first before we help her."

Naruto grunted in frustration, but he knew the others were right. 'Hold on, Hinata, I'm coming for you. Just hold on a little longer.'

* * *

Hinata stood firm as the massive cloud ninja barrelled forward. Leaping into the air, he raised both fists above his head and brought them down upon her. Through her byakugan, Hinata could see the huge build-up of chakra in his hands. She dove to the side as he came down. His fists struck the ground with incredible force, smashing flagstones and raising a cloud of dust.

Hinata rolled to her feet just in time to meet the whirling blades of the weasel-faced ninja's shuriken. She twisted to the side as the huge weapon came at her. She could feel the rush of air as it flew past. The scrawny man scowled at her. He pulled on the invisible chakra chain and brought the oversized shuriken curving back at her from the side. Hinata leapt clear, leaving it to carve a shallow groove in the stones where she'd just stood.

But now she found herself between her other two assailants. They charged her from both sides. The larger man swung a fist at her head, while the bandaged ninja thrust a knife toward her side. Memories flashed through her head of the last time that blade had been aimed at her, but she pushed down her fear and defended herself. She ducked under the chakra infused fist while knocking aside the knife hand. Her enemies kept up the pressure, striking again and again. They had her flanked and it took everything she had to keep them at bay.

Inevitably, one of their attacks found its mark. A knife blade caught her across the forearm, making a shallow cut. Hinata flinched at the stinging pain, and both of her opponents saw an opening. But as they lunged at her, the white light clouded her vision again.

Through the haze, she could see them moving as if in slow motion. She still didn't understand what was happening, but there was no time to dwell on that now. She searched for an opening of her own and found it. As soon as the white haze receded, she shifted her stance and twisted out of the path of both attacks. Knife and fist sailed past her by inches. She struck out to either side with both palms and caught them under the ribs.

The two men were pushed back by the simultaneous blows. Each struggled to maintain their balance as they staggered away from the girl. Now the third man came back into the fight, spinning his oversized shuriken above his head. He leapt forward, adding momentum to his throw, and sent the whirling blades straight at her. Now Hinata knew she had to take a chance. Her enemies were wearing her down; she couldn't fight all three at once. This was her chance to take one of them out of the fight, however risky it was. Her opponent had used his technique against her one too many times. Now she knew how to beat it.

As the massive shuriken came at her, Hinata charged straight toward it. Diving under the spinning projectile, she rolled to her feet and made straight for the weasel-faced man controlling it. The cloud ninja sneered as he pulled on the chakra chain, bringing the shuriken back at her from behind. But her byakugan saw it clearly. The shuriken came at her low, as she expected. Just as the shuriken reached her, Hinata launched herself into a graceful somersault, drawing her last kunai as she did. She threw the knife straight down between her feet at the instant the spinning blades passed under her. The heavy kunai knife was just enough to knock the shuriken into the ground, sending it flying out of control.

The cloud ninja tried to recover his weapon, but it was too late. Pressing home her charge, Hinata lunged at him. Her first strike caught him in the shoulder, above his wounded arm. His grip on the chain slackened and Hinata saw the chakra melt away instantly. Her second strike caught him square in the chest, sending the small man flying backward, to land in a heap on the ground.

The other two cloud ninja halted their attacks when they saw their companion fall. Slight movement and some muffled groans showed that he was still conscious, but for the moment, he appeared to be out of the fight.

Hinata slowly turned to face her remaining opponents. Her breathing was short and her whole body was trembling from the exertion. She felt a sharp prickling sensation running down the length of her arms and in the chakra pathways around her eyes. Kiba's soldier pill was giving her all the chakra she could use, but her network was struggling to take the strain. This fight had already pushed her further than she'd thought she could go, and she still had two more enemies left to face. But then she remembered it wasn't just the three she'd been fighting that she had to worry about.

Hinata shot a glance over to the edge of the clearing and saw the long haired archer. He sat on a tree branch, calmly fingering his bowstring as he watched the battle. That faint hint of a smile still curled the edge of his lips. He didn't seem to show any intention of helping his companions for the time being. Hinata turned her full attention back to the other cloud ninja that she was facing.

The larger man flexed his fingers and scowled at her. "Don't know 'bout you, Mummy Man, but I've had enough of this little bitch."

The ragged-cloaked ninja slipped his knives back into their sheathes. "Indeed. It would be wise to end this quickly," he replied in his flat emotionless voice, "even at the risk of killing her."

Hinata took one last deep breath and took up her fighting stance again.

The two rogue ninja clasped their hands and began making signs. The red-headed brute slammed both his palms flat on the ground. A buzzing, crackling sound could be heard in the air, accompanied by the faint smell of ozone. Hinata could see the chakra arcing across the man's body. The energy coiled around his arms, growing stronger and stronger, before suddenly discharging into the ground with a deafening crack. Branching bolts of lightning ripped up the earth, shattering flagstones as they snaked toward her. They spread out through the ground beneath her feet. All around her, the hard-packed surface of the courtyard suddenly began to buckle and heave, like the ocean in a storm. Shards of broken stone blasted upward. She tried to leap aside, but stumbled and fell on one knee.

Then she saw the other ninja inhale deeply. A barrage of fireballs, each the size of the girl's head, flew toward her. Desperately, she twisted and rolled out of their paths, while trying to regain her footing on the still-unstable ground. She could feel the heat as one came close to her face, almost catching her in the shoulder. Then with one wrong step, she tripped on a broken flagstone. Hinata stumbled backward, hitting a crumbling wall behind her. The last of the fireballs tore straight toward her.

Sprawled against the stone wall, she couldn't move out of its path. She stared into its centre, glowing almost white hot. Fear and panic gripped her. In an act of sheer desperation, she shut her eyes and thrust her open palm into it as it reached her. She felt the heat, the burning pain as it struck her naked hand. She felt the flames between her fingers, felt the intense heat wash over her. The pain flared down her arm, all the way to her shoulder.

Hinata winced, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes tighter. But then the pain began to subside. Expecting to see nothing but a blackened stump, she slowly pried open one eye.

Her hand was still there.

She opened both eyes, and slowly turned her palm around to look. She could still feel the burning heat prickling her skin. But where there should have been charred flesh, there was only a slight redness. Hinata stared at her undamaged hand in disbelief.

Then, for a fleeting instant, she saw it again - the rippling silhouette of the mysterious old man. He was looking straight at her again, with that sad smile on his thin lips. The girl thought for sure she could see a single tear trickling down his wrinkled face. It seemed to sparkle, like the white flames that consumed her vision. She tried to reach out to him, suddenly feeling that she needed desperately to know who he was, but he was already gone, melted away in the wind.

'Did he do something?' she wondered. 'Did he save me?'

But her lapse in concentration did not go unnoticed by her enemies. She came out of her daze to find the dark-skinned Cloud ninja charging at her from the side. Hinata scrambled to her feet and turned to face her attacker, but her guard came up too late. His enormous fist caught her in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying across the courtyard.

The girl rolled to a stop on the broken flagstones. She coughed and spluttered, sucking in air and clutching her stomach. She heard footsteps and looked up to see her enemies surrounding her. In front, the huge Cloud ninja that struck her, grinning devilishly. To one side, the cloaked man with his cold, lifeless eyes. And to the other side, the small weasel-faced man, breathing heavily and gripping his shoulder.

Slowly, Hinata brought herself to her knees. She tried to stand, but the pain in her abdomen kept her doubled over. She trembled uncontrollably, trying to hold back tears. She could hear the big man chuckling.

"What's the matter, little girl?" he mocked her. "Don'cha wanna play with us anymore?"

Hinata's legs shook under her weight. Again she tried to straighten and face them, but the pain was too much for her. She gripped her stomach tighter and bit her lip to suppress a whimper.

The Cloud ninja in front of her laughed louder. "Now you know what yah get when you play with the big boys."

He took a few steps toward her. The girl staggered back away from him.

"Aw c'mon, don't go. The game ain't over yet." He cracked his knuckles, grinning from ear to ear. "What's wrong? Is it past your bedtime?" he said in a sarcastic, babying tone. "You jus wanna go home, don'cha?" he chuckled to himself. "You jus wanna run on home... You wanna run home to your daddy."

* * *

The young heiress stood alone in the courtyard of the Hyuuga compound. The damp morning air was yet to be warmed by the first rays of sun. The girl stood in her fighting pose, feet spread apart, knees bent, her hands held in front. But unlike the basic form of the gentle fist style, her hands were not open. Her middle and index fingers were pointed as she practiced the more advanced form of chakra point striking.

In her mind's eye, she formed the image of an opponent. She tried to visualise his chakra points, as she had seen them during her recent mission to the Land of Water. Stepping forward, she made a thrust to her imaginary target's arm, then another to his side, then to his heart. Again and again she struck, focusing her chakra into her fingertips.

But at the sound of footsteps behind her, she froze. She quickly lowered her stance and tried to calm her breathing.

"Hinata..."

The girl stiffened for a moment at the sound of that voice. She turned to face the man and bowed respectfully. "G-good morning, Father."

Lord Hiashi Hyuuga looked over his eldest daughter. "What are you doing out here so early in the morning, Hinata?"

The girl tried to keep from trembling under her father's glare. She directed her eyes to his feet as she answered. "I am practicing my ch-chakra point striking, Father," she answered, her voice barely audible.

Lord Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "And why are you wasting your time with such practice?" he asked, his voice low and devoid of emotion. "What is the benefit of being able to strike chakra points when you cannot see them?"

She gave no answer. She simply stood there, lowering her gaze even further.

There was silence for a moment as the Hyuuga Lord awaited her reply, his cold white eyes looking down on her. "Hmm... You know your byakugan has never been strong enough for you to learn such superior techniques. And there is no indication that this will change."

The young heiress struggled to keep her lip from trembling. Her eyes began to moisten with tears. For two weeks now she had secretly been trying to recreate that moment during her battle with the Mist ninja, trying to figure out how she had suddenly been able to see their chakra points and strike them so perfectly.

"While your abilities as a shinobi may have shown some measure of improvement over the years, you are still far beneath the standards expected of the future leader of our clan. Do not waste your time reaching for what is beyond your grasp. You will only embarrass our house even further."

The girl stood motionless, looking down at her feet as her father turned and began to walk away. 'Perhaps I should tell him,' she thought. 'Perhaps if he knew, he would think a little more of me.' She looked up as he was about to step out of sight. "F-Father..."

The Hyuuga Lord stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her over his shoulder.

For a moment she met his eyes, those cold, piercing eyes that picked out her every flaw. All her doubts and fears returned. 'What if he doesn't believe me? If I can't prove it, he'll just think I'm lying. Then he'll think even less of me.' She let her gaze fall back to her feet. "I... I'm sorry, Father," she mumbled.

Hiashi just looked at her for a moment, his eyes narrowing a fraction. "Hmm..." he snorted, before turning away and walking out of sight.

Hinata sighed to herself. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she slowly made her way to her room. She fell onto her bed and began sobbing into her pillow. 'Will I ever be more than just an embarrassment to you, Father?'

* * *

She looked up into the face of the hulking cloud ninja. Her hands started shaking, tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

He grinned at her, smugly. "Go on, little girl... Run."

Her eyes shot wide open. Her byakugan flared. "NO!"

The girl threw herself at him, covering the distance in a heartbeat. A look of surprise crossed his face, wiping away his mocking grin. He took a step backward as she charged toward him, and he quickly brought up his guard.

The young heiress lunged at her enemy, not caring where she struck. Her first blow slammed into his steel arm guard. The rogue ninja cried out as a massive burst of chakra flashed its way through his arm, bypassing the metal completely. Her second blow collided with his other arm, having the exact same effect.

He tried to keep his arms up to block her relentless barrage, but they were being torn apart from the inside out. His guard quickly fell away, leaving his body exposed.

Hinata pushed forward, raining blow after blow upon him. He staggered backward, unable to stand up against the onslaught. With a strike to the chin, she sent him stumbling back into a broken wall. But she was far from finished. She threw herself forward again, pummelling his unprotected body.

With all the air being crushed from his lungs, the cloud ninja couldn't even cry out. His internal organs ruptured inside him. Blood poured from his mouth. His vision faded and went dark.

Hinata screamed in desperate defiance as she drew back for the final blow. With all the strength she had, she struck him square in the chest. Through her byakugan, she could see his heart contract and fall silent.

The hulking cloud ninja slumped back against the wall, slid down onto his knees, and slowly fell to the side. His lifeless eyes stared out in shock.

Hinata gasped for breath as she staggered back from her opponent's corpse. Her hands burned from the massive flow of chakra she had poured through them. Her heart pounded in her ears, giving a clear reminder of what she had just taken from her enemy. She looked on in a daze as the bandaged Cloud ninja stepped over to the body of his companion.

The ragged-cloaked man knelt down and inspected the unmoving form of his team mate. "He's dead," the man announced, in a flat voice, completely lacking in emotion. He rose and turned to face the girl. Fixing her with his empty grey eyes, he drew a knife and took up a fighting pose.

"That's quite enough, Takumi."

Hinata turned to face the source of the voice. Perched on top of a broken pillar was the archer.

He looked down on her with a strangely contented smile on his face. "I think it would be best if I captured the young lady myself."

"Are you nuts!" shouted the weasel-faced ninja, still clutching his wounded arm. "She just killed Kenta! Why the hell should we take her alive, let's just kill her, too!"

"Oh believe me, we don't want to kill this one," the archer replied calmly. "She's far too valuable."

"Valuable!" the scrawny one yelled. "To hell with those damn scrolls! It's not worth one of us dying!"

"No, Riku, it's not the scrolls I'm talking about," he said, his eyes still fixed on the girl. "_She_ is the real prize here."

The scrawny cloud ninja looked up at him in bewilderment. "What are you talking about, boss?"

The archers smile widened. "Didn't you notice her eyes?"

Hinata tensed slightly when she saw that overly satisfied expression.

"She bears the byakugan," he declared.

The cloaked ninja slid his knife back into its sheath. "Hmm... The kekkei genkai of the Hyuuga clan," he said in his flat, gravelly voice.

"Indeed," said the archer, "the legendary bloodline trait of the last remaining noble clan in the Hidden Leaf Village. The leaders of the Cloud Village have been trying to get their hands on its secrets for decades. I'm sure our former masters would pay handsomely for such a prize."

The girl felt a tingle of fear run down her spine. This wasn't the first time that a Cloud ninja had come after her byakugan.

"Riku, Takumi, you two can take a rest," the archer said, waving them aside with his bow. "I will handle her myself."

The bandaged ninja moved over to join his weasel-faced companion. Both made their way to the edge of the clearing.

The long haired man gave a slight bow. "Please allow me to introduce myself, Miss Hyuuga. My name is Naoki Shouta. But my enemies have named me 'The Wind Reader'."

* * *

Authors Notes:

Ooh, a bit of action. Sorry this wasn't posted earlier... I forgot.


	18. The Wind Reader

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 2

Chapter 18: The Wind Reader

The faint glow of twilight barely penetrated the gloom inside the small cave. The bug tamer looked over at his companion, lying motionless beside him. "Kiba..." he groaned, barely having enough energy to speak now. "Kiba..." he said it louder, but there was still no response. Shino inched his hand over to the dog master's neck and placed two fingers over his jugular. For a moment he felt nothing, then a faint pulse. Shino breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alive, at least for now. But he could tell that his friend wouldn't last long. Their backup still hadn't arrived after well over a day.

Akamaru began to stir from his sleep. The massive ninja dog lifted his head and nuzzled the unmoving form of his master.

The last of the light was fading. Shino knew that if backup didn't arrive immediately, it probably wouldn't arrive until morning. And the way things looked, morning would be far too late for Kiba.

Suddenly Akamaru pricked up his ears. He turned his head to the cave entrance, his nose twitching. A low growl emanated from his chest.

Shino summoned the last of his strength, calling forth a swarm of bugs. If it was an enemy then he was determined to go down fighting.

Akamaru continued sniffing the air. A few tense moments passed. Then the massive dog let out an excited bark and burst out of the cave.

Shino listened to the sound of his barking as he ran off into the forest. That wasn't an aggressive bark he was hearing. Could it be?

The bug tamer waited for what felt like an eternity, straining his ears for any sound from outside the cave. Then he heard Akamaru barking again, getting closer. And there were other sounds too, footsteps and voices.

Moments later, a spiky blonde head poked itself through the cave entrance. "Hey, I've found them!" shouted a familiar voice.

"Naruto...?" Shino squinted through the gloom.

"Move it!" yelled a pink haired girl as she barged her way past the blonde. There was a cracking sound and an orange glow filled the small chamber. "Shino, can you hear me?" Sakura asked holding the chemical light-stick over her head.

"Don't worry... about me," the bug tamer groaned. "Kiba... he needs help... first."

"Don't worry, I'm on it." Sakura quickly turned to the dog master.

"Shino, what happened? Where is she?" the boy asked franticly, scrambling over to him. "Where's Hinata?" he yelled in his face.

Sakura glared at him over her shoulder. "Naruto, he's wounded! What do you...?"

The boy ignored her. "Why isn't she here?" he demanded. "Why did she go off by herself?"

"The Cloud ninja... were closing in on us. She left... to... draw them off," Shino answered between laboured breaths.

"Are you insane? Why would you let her do that?" Naruto screamed, gripping the front of his jacket. "She can't fight them all by herself! She's gonna..."

He was cut off when a pair of hands took him by the collar and dragged him outside. "Naruto, get a hold of yourself!" Kakashi said firmly. "If you don't calm down right now..."

The boy glared at his sensei fiercely, gritting his teeth and shaking with anger. But that wasn't what made Kakashi stop. It was the glint of moisture under his eyes.

The jonin lowered his voice and looked him in the eye as he spoke. "Naruto, I understand, believe me. But losing your temper is only going to make things worse. We will find her, but we have to worry about Shino and Kiba first. Their lives are in danger, too."

Naruto gripped his head in his hands and roared in frustration. He knew Kakashi was right, like he always was. But he hated standing around, knowing that Hinata was out there fighting for her life, all by herself. He slumped down against a nearby tree, burying his head in his knees. "Hold on, Hinata," he whispered. "Please hold on."

The minutes seemed like aeons to the boy as he waited outside for Sakura to do her work. The light was fading rapidly, and with it he could feel his friend's chances of survival getting dimmer.

Finally the pink haired girl emerged from the cave. Even in the dim light Naruto and Kakashi could clearly see the look of worry on her face.

"What is it, are they gonna be okay?" Naruto asked, struggling to mask the urgency in his voice.

Sakura took a deep breath before answering. "Shino is going to be fine. He only took a small dose of the poison. He can barely move, but he'll be alright until we can get him back to the village."

An eerie silence fell among the group. It was Kakashi that finally decided to speak. "And what about Kiba?" he asked quietly.

Her face was blank. "The poison has spread to his vital organs. They're beginning to shut down." She tried to contain the quiver in her voice. "If he doesn't receive proper treatment, he'll be dead before midnight."

Again silence descended upon them. Naruto stood and looked at the young med nin sternly. "Y-you can give him proper treatment... right?"

She looked back at the boy, her bottom lip trembling slightly. "This isn't a normal poison. It attacks the chakra network, stopping the chakra from flowing around the body. Regular treatments won't work. Without proper equipment, there's nothing I can do."

The boy just stared at her, unwilling to believe what he heard. "B-but... you have to know something... there has to be some way..."

"I can slow the poison down, but in a few hours the damage to his vital organs will be beyond repair," she said morbidly. "His only hope is a proper antidote. But even if I knew how to make one for this poison, it would be impossible without specialised medical equipment."

Naruto stared at the ground in horror. "Kiba..."

Kakashi stroked his chin, his brow furrowed in thought. "Sakura, you said this poison attacks the chakra network, right?"

"Yes. It stops the flow of chakra, causing paralysis. Then the organs begin to shut down due to chakra starvation," she answered, her head hanging.

"So you're saying this is the kind of poison intended to incapacitate, rather than just kill immediately?" he asked.

Sakura looked up at Kakashi, questioningly. "Yes, that's right. What are you getting at, sensei?"

"Hmm... Well if that's the case, then it's possible that the attacker was intending to capture them rather than kill them," Kakashi said. "And if that's true, he would probably carry an antidote to make sure his prisoner didn't die."

Naruto's head shot up. "S-so you're saying those guys have an antidote?" he asked eagerly.

"There are no guarantees, but it's the best chance we've got," the jonin answered.

"Well then what the hell are we waiting for!" the boy demanded.

"Okay, here's the plan," Kakashi said, bringing the teenagers in close. "Sakura, you stay here with Shino and Kiba. Hold the poison off for as long as you can. Naruto, Pakkun and I will find Hinata and recover the antidote from the Cloud ninja. Let's move!"

"Right!" the blonde boy and pink haired girl shouted in unison.

And with that, two leaf nin and one diminutive hound leapt off into the darkening forest.

'Hold on, Hinata. I'm coming for you.'

* * *

'I have to stay calm.' Hinata told herself. 'I can't give up. Maybe I still have a chance.' She fixed her attention on the pale haired ninja before her. The man seemed perfectly at ease, standing atop the broken pillar. Hinata, by contrast, was shaking uncontrollably with both fear and adrenaline. She could still feel the power of Kiba's soldier pill burning in her stomach, but she knew her body was beginning to break down under the strain.

The prickling in her arms and temples had risen to a stinging and her palms throbbed with pain from the massive amounts of chakra that had been flowing through them. She tried to put on a mask of defiance, but she could tell from the look on her opponents face that he saw right through it.

"You've certainly performed well so far," he said, looking down on her with a confident smirk. "Only what I would expect from the legendary Hyuuga clan." Slowly he reached toward the quiver on his back and drew a strange looking arrow. "I've never met one of your family in battle. I am eager to see the full extent of your unique abilities."

Hinata took up her stance, trying to stop the trembling in her hands. She fixed her eyes on the arrow as he nocked it to his bowstring. Unlike his usual black-fletched arrows, this one was pure white from the fletching to the head. Looking even closer, she could see intricate carvings running along the length of the shaft. Chakra flowed through the whole arrow, lots of it.

She prepared to move as the archer drew back his bowstring. But rather than pointing it at her, he directed his aim straight up. Without once taking his eyes off her, he let loose and sent the arrow soaring into the cloudless sky. Hinata kept her attention focused on her opponent while tracking the path of the arrow with her byakugan. To her eyes it seemed to blaze its way heavenward, glowing brightly with a massive amount of chakra.

She waited for it to descend, but it didn't. It didn't even seem to slow down. It just flew higher and higher. All the while, the long haired ninja just stood on his perch, watching her. His heavy brown cloak fluttered around his shoulders along with his almost white ponytail. Hinata felt the cold whipping of the wind, too. It tugged at her shirt sleeves and pushed her long indigo hair into her face. The arrow rose higher, almost to the edge of her vision. Then she noticed something beginning to happen around it.

Chakra was flowing from the arrow, and all around it clouds were beginning to form. It was hard for her to tell if the cloud was emanating from the arrow or being gathered toward it. Soon the projectile itself was obscured by the mass of vapour which coiled around it, spreading outward in a massive spiral, like a whirlpool in the sky. As it grew, Hinata could feel the wind starting to pick up even more. The trees all around the clearing began to sway, their leaves rustling, their branches creaking and groaning. The wind buffeted her, howling in her ears and whipping her hair all around her. The swirling cloud darkened the sky, blotting out much of what remained of the evening twilight.

Hinata turned her attention back to her opponent. She couldn't afford to take her eyes off him for an instant. But at the same time, she couldn't help but watch the ominous clouds above. She had no way of knowing what kind of tricks the Cloud ninja had in store for her.

Without warning, a deafening crack of thunder burst from the sky above and a flash of lightning lit up the swirling mass of cloud. Hinata flinched as the bright light overwhelmed her senses for a brief instant. She steadied herself and looked back at her enemy, only to find he wasn't there.

Immediately she scanned for his chakra and found him to her left. His speed was incredible! He already had another arrow drawn. Hinata threw herself backward as he released his bowstring. The barbed arrowhead passed in front of her by barely an inch. Lightning flashed again, the crash of thunder close behind. This time Hinata was ready. She found him almost immediately and started moving as soon as he took aim. The first shot went wide, but the second was close behind it. 'I can't even let them touch me,' she thought. 'Just a scratch had been enough to cripple Shino.' She evaded the second arrow and a third, twisting her small, nimble frame out of their paths.

The attacks stopped coming, Hinata turned to face her adversary again. He slowly drew another arrow, calmly nocking it to his bowstring as though he was doing target practice. 'I can't keep this up,' she thought. 'I can't keep avoiding his attacks like this. I can't play his game.' She was out in the open and her opponent was clearly an expert on long ranged attacks. Quickly forming a plan, she steadied herself and prepared for his next move.

The instant the lightning flash lit up the clouds above, she was running. She recovered from the momentary blindness even quicker this time and could clearly see him moving. Ahead of her, there stood the remains of an old stone structure. If she could get out of the open and behind some cover she could have a better chance. But as she predicted, he wasn't going to make it that easy.

Hinata saw the arrow coming, aimed ahead to catch her as she ran. She twisted mid step, reaching into her weapons pouch as she changed direction. Now she made for a toppled stone column. A second arrow made to intercept her path. This time Hinata stopped in her tracks, letting it pass in front of her. She knew the inevitable third would be aimed straight at her. 'Now!' She spun to face her opponent as he fired, and made an attack of her own. Arrow and shuriken passed each other in mid flight. Hinata dove to the side at the last instant, rolling to her feet and making a dash for the burnt out building. The fair haired Cloud ninja stood motionless as the deadly spinning blades flew toward him. Hinata didn't dare to slow down, but she still watched him through her enhanced peripheral vision. He made no attempt to avoid her attacks, but to her surprise he didn't need to. Every one of her shuriken flew wide.

Covering the last few yards, Hinata vaulted over the broken wall and dropped down behind it. 'I missed?' she thought in bewilderment, 'but how? I was sure my aim was good.' As if in answer to her unspoken question, the wind howled in her ears. 'That's right. This wind must have blown them off course... But then why doesn't that happen to his arrows?'

She adjusted her byakugan to watch him through the wall. He hadn't moved an inch. He stood atop a pile of crumbled stone, a disturbing smile tugging at his lips. Another flash of lightning and crack of thunder split the sky. Hinata tensed, preparing for another attack. But none came. He just stood there. He seemed completely relaxed, not showing the slightest hint of exertion, or excitement. Hinata, by comparison was trembling from head to toe.

With deliberate slowness, the Cloud ninja pulled another arrow from his quiver and nocked it to his bow. Hinata watched as the barbed head became sheathed in a layer of chakra. He drew back the bowstring and aimed straight at her, through the wall. Hinata couldn't understand it, there was no way he could see her. Not just because she was on the other side of a wall... but because he had his eyes closed! He fired, and somehow Hinata knew she couldn't trust the stone wall to protect her. She rolled to the side. The arrow flew straight through the blackened stone as though it was paper. The chakra infused projectile continued on, passing through the opposite wall of the crumbled building without even slowing down.

Hinata looked back. He was still standing there in the same spot, that disturbing smile tugging at his lips. Keeping herself hidden, she moved to a better position behind the wall. She watched as he drew another arrow with the same almost bored looking slowness. Again he drew back and took aim straight at her. Without opening his eyes, or even looking in her direction, he fired. And again Hinata dove out of the way as the arrow pierced the thick stones between them.

'I don't understand!' Hinata thought in shock and puzzlement. 'He can't see me with his eyes closed and there's no way he could hear me over this howling wind.'

She watched him standing there, his mouth twisted in a lop-sided smirk. His shoulders shook as though he were chuckling to himself. His voice rose over the sound of the wind. "How is he doing it?" he said, mockingly. "That's what you're thinking, isn't it? He can't hear me over the wind, and he can't see me with his eyes closed."

Hinata gasped. 'How could he know that?'

The cloud ninja grinned even wider. "How can he see that look of surprise on my face?" he shouted over the howling gale. "How can he see my trembling hands?"

Hinata looked at her hands, now trembling even more. 'No! That's impossible!'

"But you can see me, can't you, Miss Hyuuga. That's how you've evaded my attacks so far - with those oh so special eyes of yours. I may not have a talent such as that, but I can perceive things almost as well as you can. How you ask? Well, perhaps now you understand why my enemies call me the 'Wind Reader'."

* * *

Authors Notes:

Wow, this seems really short to me. I'm currently editing a later chapter which tops 7,500 words. Despite the short length, though, I still consider this to be some of my best work. Please enjoy.


	19. Hidden In The Wind

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 2

Chapter 19: Hidden in the wind

'How is he doing it? I don't understand!' Hinata threw herself to the side as another chakra sheathed arrow blasted through the crumbling stone wall. She rolled into a crouch, shielding her eyes as the howling wind threw dust and debris into her face. She watched him through the wall with her byakugan, that disturbing hint of a smile still curling his lips as he slowly drew another arrow. 'There must be some way he can see me with his eyes closed, but how?'

"Have you figured it out yet?" the Cloud ninja called out in a slightly mocking tone. "I've been told those eyes of yours can see almost anything."

Hinata put a trembling hand to her temple. She'd been using her byakugan almost continuously, and the strain on her chakra network was becoming too much for her to bear. The soldier pill boiling in her stomach was giving her more than enough chakra to maintain it, but the pathways to her eyes were struggling to cope with the constant pressure. The only other time she'd felt this kind of pain was a few months ago on her mission to the Land of Water. A sudden wave of dizziness washed over her. The girl pushed it back with a shake of her head. She couldn't afford to lose her focus now, not for an instant.

She had to push through the pain, there was no other option. Somehow she had to find a way to beat this rogue Cloud ninja. She had to figure out a way to counter his technique. Every technique had a weakness. She just had to find it.

Hinata cleared her mind, putting all the pain and fear aside. 'I have to think. I have to figure this out.' She fixed her enhanced vision on her opponent. 'Maybe he can hear me, even over this wind. Perhaps he uses chakra to enhance his hearing, like Kiba does with his sense of smell.' She tried to focus her sight on his ears. Her eyes protested. Her vision was hazy and distorted. She winced in pain. Even this normally simple task was hard for her now. Pushing through, she studied his chakra network carefully. She found nothing obviously out of place. He wasn't sending any more chakra than normal to his ears, or nose, or anywhere else. Yet at the same time, she couldn't help thinking she was missing something.

Another arrow burst through the blackened stone, sending Hinata diving for cover again. 'I have to figure this out soon,' she thought. The wall was crumbling away, and soon she would be left with nothing to hide behind. She watched as a large chunk of masonry broke and fell inward, sending up a cloud of dust that was quickly picked up by the wind. But as she watched, something else caught her attention, something she hadn't noticed before. She'd been ignoring it until now, thinking it was just from the strain of overusing her byakugan. But now she was sure she could see trace amounts of chakra in the wind.

She knew all too well that chakra was almost everywhere. One of the first things that she'd learned in training was to ignore the 'ambient chakra' that was found in all living things. She had been trained to focus only on the larger amounts of chakra found in the bodies of humans and animals. And to ignore the small amounts found in plants and other tiny living things that would only distract her. Now that she looked for it, she could see that this was more than just the thin haze of chakra that could be found anywhere. The chakra actually flowed in the wind. She could see it moving around her, passing over her skin and between her fingers. Was that how he could see her? Could he somehow perceive the chakra in the wind? Was that why people called him the 'Wind Reader'?

She had to figure it out. She had to come up with a way to test it. Taking a deep breath, Hinata focused her thoughts and brought her hands together in a hand sign. Her chakra was difficult to channel, but she needed this to work perfectly. Silently, four clones appeared around her. They were just simple illusions, like she'd learned to make in the academy, not like the shadow clones that Naruto could make. They weren't solid, but unlike the basic clones, they could make simple noises like footsteps, making them more convincing. She watched them closely with her byakugan and could see the faint traces of chakra in the wind passing straight through them as though they weren't there at all.

Hinata turned her full attention back to the Cloud ninja when he nocked another arrow to his bowstring. She sent two of her clones out from behind the wall, and prepared to move, herself. Both clones charged toward the man, standing with his eyes closed on top of a pile of fallen stone. At first he didn't make a move. Hinata watched him intently, her eyes searching for the slightest hint of a reaction. The clones drew closer. Their false footsteps were faint but still audible over the wind. She saw him begin to draw back his bow and take aim, but then he paused. His smile faltered and his face betrayed just the tiniest hint of confusion. He'd heard them. Now Hinata knew it was her chance to move.

Leaping to her feet, she made a dash toward a huge stone pillar just a few yards away, while her other two clones ran off in different directions. She could see her opponent hesitate as the first two bore down on him, but it didn't last long. Hinata knew he had seen through her distraction when he drew back his bow and aimed straight at her. The two clones lunged forward, but he didn't even flinch. Their incorporeal bodies passed straight through him. His wicked smirk returned as he let loose and sent his arrow flying toward her.

Hinata pushed her aching legs to move faster. She couldn't stop or she'd be caught out in the open again with nothing to protect her. In desperation, she sent chakra to her feet and launched herself forward. But she couldn't move fast enough. She heard a ripping sound and felt the arrow brush past her arm.

Practically colliding with the pillar, she came to a halt. Panting for breath, Hinata put her back to the thick stone and immediately looked at her arm. Panic gripped her and her heart skipped a beat when she found a tear in her shirt sleeve. Frantically she looked for any sign of a cut underneath the cloth. How could she forget that just a tiny scratch had been enough to leave Shino crippled? The poison on those arrows made even the smallest wound enough to end the fight.

But her skin was clear, not a trace of injury. Hinata clutched at her chest and gulped a huge lungful of air. Her heart was in her throat and she was shaking uncontrollably. She knew it could have ended right there.

"Well, that was close, wasn't it? Almost broke the skin. It looks like you're starting to slow down," her opponent shouted over the howling wind. "Still, that was quite smart, using such a simple technique to distract me." He chuckled to himself. "It's almost embarrassing to admit that it threw me off. But I suppose even the most basic jutsu never lose their usefulness entirely."

'That must be it,' Hinata concluded. 'He couldn't see the clones and he didn't hear them until they were almost on him. He must be able to _feel_ things through the wind somehow.' She looked around. A faint haze of chakra filled the air, all throughout the clearing. As she watched it, she noticed that the wind was circling around the vast courtyard, like a tornado. 'He must be controlling the wind with his chakra. But how can he do it while fighting at the same time?' As if in answer, a flash of lightning lit up the sky, accompanied by the crackle of thunder. Hinata looked up. The sky above was filled with thick black clouds, swirling above the battlefield. Black to normal eyes at least, but to her byakugan, they glowed an ominous dark blue. She'd actually forgotten the first arrow her enemy had fired at the start of the battle. That was when the clouds had formed, she realised. The vast spinning vortex of chakra that filled the sky was turning in the same direction as the howling wind that filled the clearing.

'That must be how he does it,' Hinata decided. 'That strange looking white arrow he shot into the sky; that must be where the storm is coming from, along with the wind.' She turned her full attention back to the smirking Cloud ninja. He still stood atop the pile of broken and blackened stone. 'But if he can really see me in the wind, then there's no way I can hide from him. He can see my every move.'

The pale haired archer reached for his quiver again. "I'm getting tired of playing this game, Miss Hyuuga," he called out. "I think it's time I saw how powerful your legendary bloodline really is." This time he drew two arrows at once, nocking both to his bowstring together. "It's time you stopped trying to hide."

Hinata readied to avoid his attacks again. She could see the chakra pouring into his two arrows. His previous shots had gone through stone walls like paper. Perhaps even behind this metre-thick pillar she wasn't safe. He loosed the two black-fletched shafts. She was about to move, but just watched in confusion when they passed straight by the pillar on either side.

'Did he actually miss?' she wondered for a moment. But then she saw the true intent of his plan when the chakra infused in the arrows began to coil off them and take shape. A pair of clones appeared, clutching the arrows that had just been fired. Spinning around, they nocked them to their own bows and fired them straight back at her.

Acting on instinct, Hinata dropped face down on the paving stones. The two arrows sailed over her head and struck the stone pillar behind with a deafening crack. Pulverised fragments of stone pelted her back. There was an all too brief moment of silence, and she looked up to see the two clones melt away into the wind. Then an ominous cracking, grinding sound from behind drew her attention. Slowly, like a huge stone tree under the woodsman's axe, the column tilted and began falling toward her. Frantically pushing herself up on all fours, Hinata hurled herself out of the way just as it came crashing down. She rolled to a stop, coughing and choking on a cloud of dust.

The girl pulled herself to her feet one more time. She looked to her opponent, still standing on top of the pile of stone. Hinata then looked around herself and found she was trapped in the open. She had nothing left to hide behind, and the cloud ninja wouldn't let her run for cover again. But then what was the point? He could see her wherever she went, and his arrows could pierce the thickest stone. No matter how much she wanted to, she knew there was no point in running now. She swallowed hard and took up her fighting stance.

Her enemy smiled wickedly at her. "At last, you have decided to stop running. Now let's see how much truth there is to all these stories about the mighty Hyuuga clan."

He nocked his next arrow and fired. Then in one fluid movement, the Cloud ninja slipped his bow over his arms, holding it in the crook of his elbows, and made a hand sign. Hinata prepared to defend, but before the arrow could reach her, it burst apart in a flash of light. At least a dozen arrows flew out from it in all directions. Through her byakugan, she could see them spread out around, above and behind her. And as she watched, a clone formed from each one of them. From every direction at once, the clones nocked their arrows and fired on her.

There was only one way she could survive this. Hinata brought her feet together and channelled chakra into her palms. She swept her hands in broad arcs around her body, forming the sphere of her Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms. Her eyes burned, her arms burned, her whole body burned, but she pushed through the pain. Forming her chakra into lethally sharp needles, she struck out at the incoming arrows. Every one of the projectiles that wasn't cut in two simply shattered against her tightly woven lattice of chakra.

The clones vanished, melting away into the wind. The one remaining Cloud ninja, still standing in the same spot with eyes shut tight, smiled from ear to ear and laughed. "Impressive, very impressive. But that was not the legendary Hyuuga style Palm Rotation that I've heard of. It seems there is far more to your bloodline than our former village thought." He reached for another arrow and held it between his palms as he form a sign. "I simply must see how powerful your technique really is."

Hinata could see him infusing the arrow with chakra as he had done before. He nocked it to his bow and drew back the string. But this time, instead of aiming at her, he pointed it skyward, as he had done with that strange looking white arrow. He let loose and sent it streaking up into the swirling mass of clouds above. As it flew, the Cloud ninja slowly lowered himself into a crouch and laid his bow across his knees. Eyes closed and head bowed, he clasped his hands and began running through a series of signs. Hinata steadied herself. She knew something big was coming.

The black-fletched arrow disappeared into the clouds while the archer continued his string of hand signs. Hinata kept one eye on him and the other on the sky. She could see the chakra condensing within the swirling maelstrom above. Lightning arced back and forth across the huge vortex of cloud. Finally Hinata's enemy completed the last sign.

"Ninja art: Scything Steel Hurricane!"

A crack of thunder split the sky. Hinata looked up in horror as a storm of black fletched arrows rained down from the clouds above. Carried on the wind, they spiralled down toward the ground, surrounding her in a circling wall of wicked steel barbs. Were there hundreds, or _thousands?_ Hinata couldn't tell. The whistling sound of each arrow's flight combined into a deafening high pitched roar. She could see the chakra in the wind propelling them and controlling their flight.

Panic gripped her heart. 'How can he be doing this? How can he control so many at once?'

The Cloud ninja grinned fiendishly. He now had to shout at her over the incredible ripping sound of his storm of arrows. "So, shall we test your technique, or will you just stand there and be torn to shreds?"

Hinata tried desperately to quell her fear. 'I have to do this, I have to try. Shino and Kiba are counting on me. I can't let them down!'

She spread her quivering arms, sweeping them around herself. She pushed through the pain, willing herself not to falter or lose her concentration. Slowly she formed the protective sphere, weaving her chakra around her.

"Excellent, now let's begin." He thrust his palms toward her, and the first wave of arrows descended upon the girl.

Ten... Twenty... Thirty... More! Even with her byakugan, she couldn't keep track of them all. She sharpened her chakra in her palms and struck out at them, but there were far too many to stop. More and more of the steel tipped shafts rained down on her fragile, hair-thin shield of chakra. Hinata kept trying to cut them down before they reached it, but it was hopeless, and the shield was beginning to weaken. She forgot about using her chakra needles and put all her strength into maintaining the intricate lattice sphere.

The barrage of arrows pounded against her defences, relentlessly. Wave after wave of poison tipped barbs shattered against her gradually diminishing shield. Hinata grimaced in pain, fighting to shore up the weak links in her defence. Her arms felt like they were going to tear themselves apart if it went on too long. Sparks began to appear in front of her eyes. They blurred with the hail of shattering steel.

Inevitably one of the arrows found a weak point. It swept past her face, barely deflected enough to miss. Hinata pushed even harder to hold up her defence. The pain stole her concentration for an instant and another broke through. She felt the fletching brush past her leg, but forced herself not to stop.

Every fibre of her body screamed at her to let go. It would be so easy to just stop fighting and let it end. But that was not her nindo. That was not who she was. She had pledged not to give up and she never went back on her word!

Her vision blurred, her senses dulled, everything went white and for an instant she thought death had taken her. But she still fought on, her arms a blur as they swept around her. She felt a pulsing in her chakra network. She watched the arrows clashing against her shield, breaking apart with showers of sparks. She could see every one of them now. They moved slowly, as if through water. The pulses grew, stronger and stronger. She could hear them pounding in her ears.

'Bigger...' She pushed her chakra out against the rain of steel. 'Sharper...' She tightened the strands even more. 'Stronger...' She forced through the pain and fatigue that threatened to overwhelm her. 'More... More... _More!_'

With a blinding flash, her shield burst outward, smashing aside the hail of arrows and blowing out the roaring column of wind that controlled them. Thousands of broken shards of wood and metal rained down around her. And for a brief moment, there was calm.

Then the white haze receded and everything faded to black. Her trembling knees gave way and the girl fell to the ground, limp as a ragdoll.

"Incredible!" he breathed. "To be able to disrupt such a powerful technique... Your abilities are truly amazing for one so young."

Waves of pain wracked her entire body. Hinata tried to rise, but her limbs would not respond. 'I have to get up. I have to keep trying.' Her arms were weak and uncoordinated, like a newborn child's. The girl pushed herself off the ground, only to fall back into the dust. 'Come on, I have to do this.' Through sheer force of will, she regained control of her limbs and forced herself up onto her hands and knees.

The Cloud ninja gripped his bow and stood. "Truly you are an exceptional ninja, Miss Hyuuga. It seems that the strength of your technique is matched only by the strength of your will. But please, there is no need for you to continue this. You have reached your limit and you clearly do not have the strength to defeat me. You have more than proven yourself. There is no need to punish yourself any further. Why not accept defeat gracefully rather than continuing with a hopeless battle?"

Hinata ignored him. She had given her word and that was the end of it. On shaking knees, she stood to face her enemy once more. The pain seemed to come from everywhere at once, but still she raised her hands and took up her fighting stance. For some reason she felt strangely calm, almost energised. Her arms and legs were weak and trembling, but her heart and breathing were steady. She pushed chakra through her aching pathways and refocused her byakugan.

The Wind Reader sighed. "Very well then..." He drew another arrow and nocked it to his bow. The howling winds picked up again.

Hinata knew that it was time to stop playing his game. She had been reacting to his moves throughout the whole battle. Now that he thought she was beaten, perhaps he would let his guard down. She had to get close to him. He had only been using long ranged attacks which meant he was probably weak in close combat. Even if he was far stronger than her, she might just have a chance.

It was time to test her new technique.

She'd been trying to perfect it for months; a variation on her ultimate defence. All her skills were short ranged and she needed a way to close the distance with her enemies. She wasn't sure if it would work, but this was the perfect time to try it.

As her enemy raised his bow and drew back the string, she charged. Smirking, he let loose his arrow. This time Hinata didn't turn aside. She dipped low and ducked straight under it without slowing down. He fired another arrow, this one too low for her to drop under. But by now she was close enough. She pushed chakra into her aching legs and jumped.

The cloud ninja sneered. There was no way she could avoid his shot in mid flight. He took aim, as she dove head first toward him, and fired.

This was it. Now she would see if all her training had been worth it. As the black-fletched arrow streaked toward her, Hinata twisted her body into a spiral. Sweeping her arms around her again, she wove a coil of chakra in front of her. The girl's as-yet unnamed technique, inspired by the Inuzuka style Fang Over Fang, turned her body into a living chakra-sheathed spear.

Hinata lashed out with a sharpened needle of chakra and cut the arrow in two. Quick as ever, her opponent fired another, this one splitting into a volley of arrows. Forcing more chakra through her burning palms, she strengthened her bullet shaped shield. The vicious steel points shattered harmlessly against it.

Her enemy just grinned even wider. "Too slow," he said, as he leapt to the side and out of her path.

But Hinata was ready for that. Focusing all the chakra she could muster into her palms, she pushed against the air, turning in mid air as she fell. His smirk dropped away when she bore down upon him again. Barely finding his footing on the rough stone, the Cloud ninja threw himself back, drawing another arrow as he did.

"Just a little closer,' she thought. 'Just one shot is all I need.' Sparks flew in front of her eyes again and the white haze returned. Once again, time slowed to a crawl. She could see the arrow shaft flex as it was loosed from his bow. She watched it streak toward her heart. She saw her chance, however slim it was, to defeat her enemy. With every ounce of strength she had left, she forced chakra into her palm, shaped it into a needle sharp point and launched it at her target.

She watched the arrow collide with her tiny lance of chakra. She watched as its head shattered into a thousand pieces. She watched the wooden shaft split neatly in two, all the way from the head to the nock. She watched the two halves of the arrow fly apart, while her tiny, focused burst of chakra continued toward its target. She watched her opponent shy away in surprise and shock. And she watched his ornate recurved bow break and shatter as her attack found its mark.

Hinata slammed into the paving stones hard. She winced in pain as she rolled to a stop in the dust. The last of her strength was all but gone, but it had been worth it. She pried her eyes open to see her enemy gripping the shattered remains of his weapon. Pushing her weary body to its hands and knees, she looked up and stared at him with fierce determination in her pale white eyes.

Opening his own eyes at last, her opponent stared back. "Incredible... Simply incredible!" he breathed, shaking his head in disbelief. "So this is the true strength of the Hyuuga. Now I understand why your clan is so feared."

Gathering her strength again, Hinata hauled herself to her feet. With his bow broken, her enemy would be far less dangerous. Now she was sure she could do it. She pushed chakra into her aching eyes and prepared to launch one more attack.

But the Cloud ninja just held her gaze and smiled. "You have truly surprised me, Miss Hyuuga. You should be proud of yourself. Only a rare few have made it this far. Now I have no choice but to reveal the true secret of my technique."

Hinata looked on in confusion as he threw aside the remains of his bow and it began to crumble away. Her confusion turned to shock when her opponent's body began to crumble along with it. As if he were made of nothing but dirt and ash, he simply began to crack and fall to pieces. Within seconds, he had been reduced to a pile of dust which was soon carried away on the wind. Nothing was left but a small piece of paper with a seal written in blood.

'No...' She felt a cold, heavy weight take hold of her heart. 'How could it be a clone? How could I have missed the real one?' Pushing her sight outward, Hinata searched the entire clearing. In the trees on the edge she could see the other two she had fought before, but there was no sign of the archer. She looked again, into every possible hiding place. She looked underground, but there was nothing. All she could see was the trace amounts of chakra in the wind. Then a terrible thought struck her and she turned her attention to the sky.

The swirling mass of cloud was beginning to shrink. Slowly, it spiralled in toward its centre. Through her byakugan, she could see the chakra condensing into a single point. The last of the cloud disappeared, and from out of the now empty sky fell a single white arrow.

With a crack it hit the ground, point first. The winds died away and an eerie calm descended upon the clearing. Hinata felt tears well up behind her eyes as she watched the chakra coil off the strangely carved arrow and take shape.

"So, Miss Hyuuga, now you know the secret behind my technique," the Wind Reader said as he took the white arrow and let it crumble into dust in his hand.

'No...' Hinata shook her head, trying to convince herself it wasn't real. The whole time she'd been fighting him, the real ninja had been up in the clouds above. She'd thought she was so close. She was sure she'd had a chance. Now she could barely move, while her enemy seemed stronger than ever.

Gripping his unbroken bow, the Cloud ninja drew an arrow and prepared to fire. "You have truly impressed me, Miss Hyuuga. I won't ask you to surrender, but this fight will end now, all the same."

Hinata tried to hold back the tears, she saw him pouring chakra into his arrow. 'I can't give up,' she tried to tell herself. 'I have to keep fighting. I have to try.' Her hands shook as she began to weave her sphere of protection. 'I have to keep fighting, for Shino and Kiba.' She watched through aching eyes as the air around her enemy began to ripple. He drew back his bow. She could clearly see the incredible power infused in his attack.

The girl pushed everything she had left to give into her ultimate defence, and prepared for the strike to come.

* * *

Naruto, Kakashi and Pakkun stopped in their tracks as a huge flash lit up the night sky. Nobody had time to ask what it was before an earth shaking crack of thunder rolled over the forest.

"Whoa, now that was the loudest thunderclap I've ever heard," Pakkun exclaimed.

"That wasn't ordinary thunder and lightning," Kakashi stated, his tone deadly serious. "That was ninjutsu... _powerful_ ninjutsu."

The blonde haired boy found his hands trembling. 'Hinata... please be okay.'

* * *

Her head was spinning. Her ears were ringing. She tried to open her eyes, but she saw only a fuzzy white blur. Feeling began to come back to her body, and she could tell she was lying on the ground. 'What happened?' she asked herself. Groggily, she tried to lift her head. Her eyes began to adjust and she could make out the surroundings of the clearing. Something caught her attention and she forced her eyes to focus on it. It was the Cloud ninja, standing in the distance, halfway across the clearing from where she lay. He was just looking at her with a hint of a smile curling his lips.

Hinata tried to move. At first her body wouldn't respond, but slowly she began to get some feeling back in her limbs. She tried to rise, but felt a strange pressure on her left side. She turned her head to look, and at first she was confused. But confusion quickly turned to shock, horror, and absolute terror when her mind was finally able to process what she was looking at. Her heart leapt into her throat and her whole body tensed when she saw the black-fletched wooden shaft protruding from her left shoulder.

Her right hand shook violently as she reached toward it. It didn't seem real at first. But then she felt the blood... and the pain. Gingerly, Hinata took hold of the arrow shaft, but pulled her hand away immediately when a jolt of fire and ice shot through her. She turned back to the Cloud ninja. He was still standing in the same spot. The girl tried to pull herself to her feet, only to find her left arm wouldn't move. She tried to lift it again, but nothing happened.

Then panic truly began to take hold. Rolling half onto her side she tried desperately to crawl away from her enemy. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks and cries of pain mingled with her sobs. Scrambling backward, she ran into something solid. Taking her eyes off the Cloud ninja for a moment, she found herself at the bottom of a flight of stone steps that rose up the hill behind her. Turning back, she looked to see the pale haired man standing stock still. He made no attempt to stop her.

All other thoughts were forgotten now. She had to get away. With her one good arm, Hinata hauled herself onto her feet and fled up the stone steps. She didn't care where they took her, as long as it was away from him.

Naoki Shouta the Wind Reader watched the girl stumble up the ancient, overgrown flight of steps. He shouldered his bow as his remaining two subordinates stepped up behind him.

"Hey, boss, you're not just gonna let her run off are you?" asked the weasel faced Riku. "C'mon, let's grab her now."

Naoki smirked. "Why bother? Between the blood loss and my poison, she won't get too far."

"You mean we're actually gonna follow her up that hill through the dark?" he protested. "She's done! Let's just get it over with."

"If she has the strength to run, then she has the strength to fight," stated Takumi, in his flat, gravelly voice. "It would be wise to let the poison take effect. Then we can capture her at our leisure." He raised a bandaged hand and gestured to the lifeless form of their other companion. "Don't forget what she did to Kenta."

"Well spoken as always, Takumi." Naoki began making his way toward the long flight of steps. "Come along, gentlemen, let's stay close behind her. Soon we shall have out prize."

* * *

Hinata stumbled and fell forward on the rough stone steps for what seemed like the hundredth time. She rolled to the side too late and shrieked in pain as the tail of the arrow brushed the ground. The twisting barb sent shockwaves of fire through her body. She clutched feebly at the wound with her right hand, her left hung limp at her side. She was dimly aware of the stream of tears rolling down her face. Once again the girl pushed herself up, every movement triggering a fresh wave of pain.

Onward she climbed, up the winding flight of steps. With each one, her legs felt heavier. She gasped for breath between sobs, her lungs burning. But she didn't dare to slow down. She knew they were behind her somewhere. She spun to the right when an unexpected sound echoed through the trees that flanked the stairway. Her byakugan was beginning to fail her. All she could see was a rippling blur of black and white. She pushed herself onward for what seemed like hours, walking, stumbling, crawling.

'I failed... I couldn't beat them... I wasn't strong enough...' Sparks flared in front of her eyes. Her quivering knees gave way again and she collapsed onto the rough stone. 'I have to run... I have to get away...' With her legs unwilling to support her, she started dragging herself up the stairs.

One by one, she pulled herself over each step until there were none left. Wearily lifting her head, Hinata looked up and saw the crumbled remains of a gatehouse. Though the last of her strength was leaving her, she managed to pull herself to her feet. Staggering through the ruined gateway, she looked around and found herself in the courtyard of a vast building complex, long since abandoned. Burnt out structures and toppled masonry littered the huge walled compound.

She stumbled through the courtyard and dragged herself up the steps of a once majestic building, now a burnt and blackened ruin. Her vision wavered. Phantom images swirled at the edge of her sight. Distant screams haunted her ears.

For a moment, she caught sight of one of the ghostly apparitions. The long haired old man stood before her, his weathered face heavy with sorrow. The girl reached out to him with a trembling hand. She begged him to help her, stumbling after him as he melted away into the darkness. The last she saw of him was a single white tear trickling down his wrinkled cheek. She was alone. Nobody could help her now.

Her strength gave out at last, and she fell to the hard stone floor.

'I'm sorry Kiba... I'm sorry Shino... I was too weak... I failed you...' She dimly made out the shape of three figures approaching, before her vision faded to black. 'I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...'

* * *

Authors Notes:

And that, boys and girls, is how you do a cliffhanger.


	20. Scarred Soul

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 2

Chapter 20: Scarred soul

The shroud of night had taken hold. Two ninja followed a diminutive hound through the forest, their eyes straining to see in the thin moonlight. Suddenly the trees ended and the trio burst out into a broad clearing. Crumbled and broken buildings littered the expanse, along with the telltale signs of battle.

"This is the place," said Pakkun over his shoulder. "They fought here. I can smell their trail all over, but they've been gone for a while."

"Damn it! We're too late, aren't we?" Naruto yelled in frustration, his voice cracking.

"Don't give up yet, Naruto," Kakashi said, calm as ever. "Pakkun, let's find out where they went."

The pug sniffed the air. "Hold up, I think there's someone nearby."

The two ninja immediately put up their guard. The boy clenched his fists. "Where are they?" he growled. "If they hurt Hinata, I'm gonna tear them apart!"

Pakkun sniffed the air again. "Hmm... I think you're a little too late, kid." He bounded off toward the scent, the other two following close behind.

All three came to a halt when they saw the body of the dead Cloud ninja lying slumped against a blackened stone wall. Kakashi knelt down to inspect the corpse.

"He's been dead for a while," the jonin noted. "His body's cold. Hmm... I don't see any external wounds. I'm guessing he was killed by someone using the gentle fist style."

"So she got one of them." Naruto glared at the corpse, his brow furrowed in anger. "Serves him right," he said under his breath.

Kakashi began searching the man's equipment. He tossed aside a few weapons and personal belongings. "No sign of the antidote. Keep looking, Pakkun."

"Right," the ninja dog answered lazily. His nose twitched. "Okay, I got another strong scent over here."

Again, the two ninja dashed after the dog. Naruto's breath caught in his throat when they came across the source of the scent. He snatched up the all too familiar white and lavender jacket. "Hinata..." he whispered, gripping it with shaking hands. "Where is she?" he demanded, turning to the pug.

"Hey, take it easy, kid." Pakkun took a sniff of the jacket, before turning his nose to the ground. He paused for a moment. "Uh... I've got a scent over this way," he said hesitantly.

They followed the dog to the foot of a long flight of stone steps, winding up the side of a hill. "Where is she? Why'd we stop?" Naruto asked. Pakkun just pointed to the ground in front of him.

The boy let the jacket slip from his grasp when he saw the dark red stain on the flagstones. "Is... is that...?"

Pakkun sighed as he took a sniff of the still damp puddle of blood. "I think it's hers."

"No..." the boy breathed, his head shaking in disbelief. "No..." His fists shook and hot tears began to well up behind his eyes. "HINATA!" the boy screamed his frustration to the sky.

"Stay calm, Naruto," Kakashi said firmly, putting a hand on his arm. "She may still be alive."

"Hold on, I think I can smell her!" Pakkun said.

Naruto spun to face the pug. "WHERE?" he demanded. His eyes flashed and his teeth clenched. His anger was almost palpable.

The ninja dog recoiled and pointed a trembling paw in the direction of the hill above them. "Up there, in those old ruins on top of the hill."

Kakashi tightened his grip when the boy took a step toward the stairway. "Hold it, Naruto. We're not going anywhere until..."

The boy roared in anger, lashing out at his sensei. A flash of red filled the clearing and the masked jonin was thrown to the ground. Without another word the young blonde dashed off up the flight of stone steps into the darkness.

"Naruto, get back here!" Kakashi called after him as he pulled himself to his feet. "No, I can't let him run off by himself." He shook off the dizziness from the massive surge of chakra he'd been hit with and started to follow.

"Hold up!" Pakkun yelled. "I can smell something else."

Kakashi paused and turned back to the dog. "Is it the Cloud ninja?"

"I guess so. One of them is up there with the girl, but the other two are coming down the hill straight toward us!" Pakkun answered. "And I think they know we're here."

"Damn it, he's going to run right into them!" Kakashi cursed. "I was afraid this would happen. He's been getting closer and closer to losing it as the chase went on. We've got to catch up to him, fast!"

The jonin leapt off after his student. He knew the cloud ninja would already be setting a trap for them, but it wasn't just their enemies that he was worried about. If anything, he was more afraid of the boy himself.

* * *

Hinata felt herself floating in inky blackness. A dull, rhythmic thud echoed in her mind. The pounding slowly grew louder and faster. It was some time before she recognised it as her own heartbeat. Gradually her mind began to reawaken from the dreamless void of unconsciousness. After a while, she collected enough of her thoughts to consider were she was and what had happened. She began to wonder why she couldn't feel anything or hear anything other than her heartbeat. Her mind tried to reach out and awaken her body. At first she felt nothing... Then came the cold.

It coiled around her and filled her lungs as though she was lying on ice. Was she lying down? She still wasn't sure. She felt like her body was pitching and rolling, like she was on a ship in the middle of a storm. But all she could hear was her heart thundering in her ears. Feeling slowly began to spread through her body and into her limbs. She thought she was lying on something cold, flat and hard. For a while she could feel nothing else... Then came the pain.

It gripped her in the temples first. Then she felt it throughout her whole body at once. Each deafening thud of her heartbeat sent a new wave of pain rippling through her. She tried to move, to shake off the feeling. But her body didn't want to respond. What happened? Why was she feeling this? Her mind was blank. She couldn't think straight. For some time she couldn't remember where she was or what had happened to her... Then came the fear.

A sudden sharp intake of breath pulled her back into reality. Her eyes snapped open and were greeted by a flickering red and orange glow. Her mind struggled to make sense of her surroundings. Everything seemed to ripple and change shape at random. Shadows loomed over her and flickering coloured lights flashed at the edge of her vision. Her head swam, her stomach churned and she resisted the urge to empty it of its contents.

She remembered a battle. She'd been fighting someone far more powerful than her. Then she ran away because... In Panic, she lifted her head to look at her left shoulder. It was gone. That horrible black fletched arrow was gone. Instead there were bandages wrapped tightly around the area. 'What happened?' she asked herself. 'Did someone rescue me? Am I safe?'

She tried to lift her hand to touch her bandaged shoulder, but something held her down. She rolled her swimming head to see what was holding her arm and saw the glint of metal shackles around her wrist. She pulled against them, but she was held fast. She tried her left arm and found she could barely move it at all. She tried her legs, but they too were held fast by heavy steel chains. She finally made sense of her position. She was shackled to a stone slab, her feet together and her arms stretched out to either side. A rising panic gripped her in the chest.

"Ah, you are awake at last."

That voice sent ice running down her spine. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. Her heart quickened its already frantic pace. 'No... Not him... Anyone but him!'

She didn't want to look. She hoped that he wasn't there, that the voice was just her imagination. Against her will, her eyes turned to look at the figure now standing over her. The ragged brown cloak, the bandages covering his face and hands, and those cold, piercing, emotionless, grey eyes - it was him.

"Good evening, Miss Hyuuga." His flat gravelly voice echoed in her ears. "I am pleased that you have awoken so soon." His words were polite but completely devoid of emotion. Not a hint of anger, or sarcasm, or satisfaction as she might expect from her captor.

Hinata found herself trembling uncontrollably under his empty stare. She flinched as he lifted a lamp and placed it next to her on the raised stone platform where she was bound. The light from the flickering flame cast shadows over the Cloud ninja's bandaged face.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Takumi, formerly of the Village Hidden in the Clouds," he stated. "In case you don't remember, you were shot with a poisoned arrow by my master, Naoki Shouta."

Hinata tensed when she remembered the sight of the dreadful black shaft protruding from her body. Her breathing quickened its pace even more when she remembered the effect that the poison had on her friends.

"You have no need to fear for your life," her captor said in his coarse monotone. "You have been given an antidote to the poison and the wound has been treated. However, due to the nature of the poison and its antidote, you may be experiencing some disorientation and weakness for some time."

Hinata now knew why her vision and hearing were distorted, but that didn't calm her fears in the least. She was helpless before this disturbing and seemingly emotionless man. She tried desperately to block out the thoughts of what he could do to her.

Turning around, he stepped over to a small campfire that she could see out of the corner of her eye. He knelt down and looked to be rummaging through a backpack, though she couldn't see much more over the edge of the stone she lay on.

"My master, Naoki, and my associate, Riku, have returned to the site of our battle to recover the body of our other associate, Kenta." He stood and returned, carrying a scroll.

She remembered now. She had killed one of them. She shied away as he stood over her again. They were all alone. Was he going to take revenge on her for killing his companion? But still he showed no hint of emotion, even when speaking about the death of his 'associate'. What kind of heartless person was he?

She watched him unfurl the scroll and lay it out on the stone next to the lamp. He performed a few hand signs and ran his open palm across the paper. Hinata gasped when the smoke cleared and she saw what he had drawn out of the scroll. She pulled weakly at the chains that bound her and bit her lip to suppress a cry of fear. Tears stung her eyes as he picked up the first of an array of vicious looking knives. He held it up, examining it in the firelight. Hinata squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away.

"You were travelling with two companions. May I ask where they are now?"

Despite the cold, Hinata felt beads of sweat running down her face and neck. Torture... She had learned about the subject in the academy. It was a part of basic ninja training to learn methods of resisting torture. But all her lessons were forgotten when she found herself facing the reality of it. She bit her lip harder. The taste of salt entered her mouth.

She waited for the pain to begin, but it never came. She dared to look when she heard him stepping away. The knives were gone. He was kneeling by the fire again.

"I suppose it is of little consequence," he said without turning from the fire. "By now, both would have succumbed to Naoki's poison. If the proper antidote is not administered within twenty four hours, death is almost certain. It has been approximately thirty two hours."

His soulless words cut deeper than any blade. Hinata felt as though her heart had withered away to nothing. She had failed. Her friends were dead. And now she was at the mercy of her enemies.

The Cloud ninja returned to stand over her again. She turned her head away when he reached toward her, but soon realised he was inspecting the bandages on her shoulder.

"I believe the wound will heal," he stated, in his flat, empty voice, "but you will bear a scar." He paused for a moment. "Hmm... yes that's right. I seem to recall giving you a scar myself, just a few months ago."

Hinata shivered as she remembered her first encounter with him, and the knife wound to her side that had put her in the hospital for weeks.

"Let's see how well it has healed, shall we?" Hinata cringed at his touch as he lifted her shirt and inspected the scar on her side. "Hmm... remarkable," he commented, though his voice remained as emotionless as ever. "The wound has healed far better than I would have expected."

She shuddered as he ran a bandaged finger over the thin red line streaked across her pale skin. She suppressed a whimper, but couldn't hold back the tears that ran down her cheeks.

"Yes, very impressive," his soulless voice echoed in her ears. "Your skin is flawless - smooth, clean and untainted... like a blank canvas."

Hinata breathed in sharply when he took his hands away from her. Prying open her eyes, she looked up into his shrouded face.

His own cold grey eyes stared back at her. "Perhaps you would like to admire my work, Miss Hyuuga."

He unfastened his cloak and let it fall off his shoulders to the ground. Hinata could now see that not just his face and hands, but his entire upper body was covered in bandages. Without taking his gaze off her, he began to slowly unwrap them.

Hinata was frozen. She wanted to look away, but her eyes were fixed on him. With each layer of bandage that fell away, the fear and panic gripped her even tighter. Her mind simply didn't want to believe the disturbing image that she was confronted with. The last of the cloth wrappings fell to the ground and Hinata could only stare in horror. His chest... his stomach... his arms... his hands... his neck... his head; every inch of skin was covered with gruesome rippling scars. But they weren't just from random wounds suffered in battle. They coiled around him, weaving their way across his body, forming grotesque patterns all over his flesh.

He raised his arms, displaying his mutilated body. "Behold my finest work."

Hinata tried to recoil from him, but the chains wouldn't let her. His words twisted the skin on his face, carved into the image of a vicious, grinning demon.

"So few people have had the privilege of viewing my art," he said, his cold empty voice only adding to his demonic appearance. "So tell me, Miss Hyuuga, do you like it?"

Her chest heaving, she could only whimper in reply. She was quaking with fear, but still she couldn't tear her eyes away.

"Hmm... It is a shame that so few can appreciate my art." He turned away and knelt down by the fire again, revealing the equally hideous scale-like patterns on his back. Moments later he returned, holding something in his hand. "Perhaps my newest work will be better received."

Her heart froze in her chest when she saw the knife, its tip glowing bright red.

Pure unsuppressed panic took hold of her. Hinata screamed in sheer terror, pulling with all her strength against the chains that held her. The shackles bit into the flesh of her wrists and ankles, but she didn't notice, nor did she care. All her thoughts were bent on escaping from this inhuman monster. But still she couldn't tear her eyes away from his leering demon-carved face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, in his deep, soulless voice. "I will make you into a living work of art. Don't you want to be beautiful?"

He reached out a hand, pinning her to the stone slab. Hinata tried desperately to free herself from his grasp, but his arms seemed as strong as the steel chains that bound her limbs. She could only watch helplessly as the red hot knife drew closer to her pale skin. She could feel its heat as it came nearer. She gritted her teeth and tried in vain to prepare herself for the coming pain.

Then, with the blade less than a hairs breadth from her skin, he stopped. Hinata looked up at his gruesome face, and realised he wasn't looking at her anymore. At the edge of her vision she thought she could see a flickering red light, but she still couldn't take her eyes off the man leaning over her. Then she heard a low bestial growl coming from the direction he was looking. An all new feeling of dread weighed down on her when she saw emotion on his face for the first time. She could not imagine what could be so terrible that it would cause this heartless human being to fear.

The growl rose to a roar, so loud that she could feel it. The red glow became a blinding flare. She could feel an incredible weight of chakra bearing down on her. The earth itself seemed to tremble. Hinata told herself not to look, but her eyes betrayed her. Slowly they turned toward the source of that horrible, indescribable power. What she saw was a blazing inferno of pure chakra given form. The beast stood on all fours, with eyes glowing like white hot coals. Three massive tails swept around it. It roared again and its chakra flared even higher. A fourth tail coiled into existence. Then it charged.

* * *

A backhand punch caught the scrawny Cloud ninja across the face, sending him spinning into a tree. The cracking of bones echoed throughout the forest.

Kakashi leapt backward as an arrow streaked toward him. His sharingan picked out the attacker in an instant. Drawing shuriken, he sent them spinning toward his enemy, deftly deflecting the next pair of arrows that came at him. With a flurry of hand signs, the copy ninja summoned his chakra to his lungs and exhaled a huge rolling ball of flame.

The archer jumped to the side as the massive fireball ploughed through the trees toward him, incinerating everything it touched. It never had a chance of striking him head on, but it was enough of a distraction for Kakashi's shadow clone to get the drop on him.

The pale haired cloud ninja stiffened as the kunai plunged into his back. But an instant later, his body simply melted away into thin air.

"A wind clone!" Kakashi cursed under his breath. He searched his surroundings, but even his sharingan found no trace of the real ninja. Then a dreadfully familiar sensation tugged at his senses. "No! It's happened already!" He turned his eyes to the ruins on top of the hill above him. Even with his normal eye he could make out the ominous red glow. "The real one must have gone after Naruto." He immediately leapt toward the stone stairway winding its way up the hill. "I just hope I'm not too late."

* * *

Hinata turned her head away, shutting her eyes against the horrible sight as the beast leapt at her with smouldering red claws raised. She could feel its raw uncontrolled power wash over her, burning against her skin. Its howl of rage and malice bore into her very soul. She expected nothing but pain and death. But the crushing weight of its chakra passed over her.

The sound of cracking and falling stone echoed all around. Hinata's eyes snapped open. She saw the creature several yards away now, standing with its back to her. Behind the burning haze of chakra and between the sweeping tails she could see the shape of the scarred Cloud ninja. The beast held him by the neck, pinning him against a crumbling stone wall.

Hinata's heart threatened to tear its way out of her chest. Every breath was a desperate, ragged gasp. Her mind didn't even register the sudden pulse of pain in her temples. Chakra flowed to her eyes, unbidden. She could see the beast clearly now, as her byakugan flared into life. Long pointed ears swept back behind its head, its body was shaped like that of a lithe slender canine, but there was something else inside it.

What she saw inside the horrifying four-tailed creature was perhaps more frightening to her than the beast itself. Through the burning haze of chakra, her eyes could make out an all too familiar silhouette. 'No... it can't be him,' she told herself, though she could clearly see the truth of it. 'That's not him... that can't be him... it's not... it's _not!_'

The scarred ninja struggled weakly against the beast, feebly clawing at its arm. It could have snapped his neck with ease. But when he saw the monster draw back and open its right hand, he knew he would not have the luxury of a swift death.

Burning red chakra coiled into the creature's open palm, forming into a churning, wavering sphere. Incredible raw power suffused the fist sized ball, which threatened to burst apart at any moment. Then with a guttural roar of pure hatred it thrust the sphere into the man's stomach. It tore into his unprotected flesh, grinding away skin, muscle and bone. The Cloud ninja threw back his head to scream, but instead of sound, there came a fountain of boiling blood. In a flash, the ball erupted, slicing a spiral shaped groove into the wall and tearing the Cloud ninja's body to pieces.

Hinata watched the gruesome scene in horror, unable to shut her eyes or turn away. Her lungs ceased to function. The beast tossed aside the ruined bloody mess that had once been a man, snarling with satisfaction as it did so. She wanted to scream, but the breath didn't come. She simply gaped at the sight of this terrible creature, still trying to convince herself that it wasn't who she knew it to be.

'What could have happened to him?' she asked herself in vain. 'That couldn't possibly be him. He's not like that... He's not!'

A low rumbling growl emanated from its throat. Slowly it dropped down on all fours and began turning toward her. She could see the telltale whisker marks streaked across its cheeks.

"No... please no...' Her breathing came in short shallow gasps. 'What kind of monster could have done this to him? Please let him be alright.' She ached to see his warm smiling face and his sparkling blue eyes. 'Please... please!'

The beast turned to face her. Its mouth twisted into an animalistic snarl. It stared straight into her with its bestial, flaming red eyes.

All else around her seemed to fade to black. She felt as though her very soul was being dragged into those hideous burning black-slit orbs. She wanted to pull back, but her body had already slipped away behind her. Blinding white light consumed her vision and then faded into utter darkness.

* * *

'What happened?'

She felt herself standing. The cold stone slab and heavy steel shackles were gone.

'Where am I?'

She reluctantly pried open her eyes and found herself standing in a narrow, dimly lit corridor. Shivering with both fear and cold, she looked down to see she was standing in ankle deep water. An overwhelming feeling of dread weighed down on her.

'I don't understand. What is this place, how did I get here?'

Hinata's heart leapt into her throat when she heard a low rumbling growl echo down the corridor from behind her. She knew what that sound came from. It was the monster that had somehow taken the boy she loved. Every fibre of her being screamed at her to run and never look back, but, shaking from head to toe, she slowly turned to face the terrible sound. Down the hall she saw a doorway, an ominous red glow emanating from within.

Though all her instincts told her to do the opposite, Hinata slowly made her way toward the door. As she moved closer, another sound reached her - cries of pain and anguish. She wished it wasn't, but she knew exactly who the cries came from. Her whole body trembled uncontrollably. She took one last breath and stepped in front of the doorway.

On the other side, she beheld an inferno of blazing red chakra, and at the centre was him. Bound by two massive claws forged of boiling chakra, he writhed in agony, his eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched.

'No, Naruto!' She stumbled toward him, reaching out a trembling hand. Fear gripped her still, but her only desire was to save him from whatever terrible power had him in its clutches. She stopped just a few yards from the boy. Looking around, she searched for some way to free him. Only then did she see where she was.

Behind the boy stood a pair of huge barred gates, far larger than any she had ever seen. They looked strong enough to hold back all the forces of Hell, yet they seemed to be held shut by nothing but a piece of paper. Behind the gates was pure darkness. As she looked, she could see that the burning red chakra was seeping between the bars. She began to take another step forward, but froze.

A rumbling growl came from behind the gate, so loud and deep that it shook the whole chamber. A row of huge white fangs appeared in the darkness, followed by a pair of bestial, glowing red eyes.

Hinata was transfixed, unable to move... unable to breathe... unable to feel... unable to think. The creature looked down on her, and its fangs spread into a vicious grin. Its eyes flashed and the beast let out a terrifying, low rumbling laugh.

**"Hyuuga..."**

In those eyes the girl beheld the compounded wrath and hatred of an eternity. In one fleeting instant, a thousand violent deaths played out before her. She watched helplessly as homes, cities, nations, and worlds burned in front of her eyes. A thousand years of pain, misery and hopelessness came crashing down upon her unprotected soul.

She fell to her knees, clawing at her face, tears burning down her cheeks. A piercing, deafening scream reached her ears. She didn't even realise it was her own.

Awakened from his imprisonment by the terrible sound, the boys eyes snapped open. He stared in shock at the girl before him. 'Hinata...? No...!'

* * *

The beast roared in frustration as its host tried to retake control. Its tails thrashed and its claws tore at the stones around it. Two spirits battled for control of the one body they were forced to share. Growls of anger and cries of determination echoed from the hilltop as they fought for dominance.

Gradually the host began to gain the upper hand. One by one, the tails began to melt away. The cloak of fire and blood that surrounded him boiled off, revealing the seared and broken skin of the young man beneath. Naruto screamed in agony, gripping his head in his hands, which still bore their hideous elongated claws. The Fox raged against him. It's chakra still leaked from the imperfect seal that bound it.

The boy knew he couldn't let it win. He saw the girl with his waking eyes now, shackled to the slab of stone with heavy iron chains. Her screams still echoed in his ears. He could not let the beast get any closer to her. He wouldn't forgive himself if it hurt her - at least, any more than it already had.

And so he fought down the seething mass of anger that fuelled it. Though his thirst for revenge was still unquenched, he cast his rage aside for the sake of the indigo haired young woman, his precious friend.

The monster's grip on him was slackening. It's power ebbed. But before he could return the beast to its prison, a new enemy sought to end the battle for both of them.

A flash of light and a deafening thunderclap burst out across the hilltop. Boy and beast roared in pain as the twin black-fletched shafts struck them from behind. Turning to face their assailant, they were bowled over by three more.

As the sound of thunder rolled out across the surrounding forest, the pale haired Cloud ninja looked down on his newest opponent. "Hmm... Isn't this turning out to be an interesting night? I never thought I would have to face the power of a tailed beast."

The host pulled himself out of the rubble, his body pierced by five black fletched arrows. He could feel the power of his prisoner ebbing away. Pain rippled throughout his shattered body. He glared at the cloaked figure, standing atop a crumbling wall.

"I assume you have come to rescue the girl," he shouted. "I'm afraid she's worth far too much to just let her go without a fight. Not that you, yourself, wouldn't be worth a lot to the right people, but I think it would be a bit too much trouble to try and keep you alive."

The archer nocked another arrow and took aim at the boy. His bones were shattered - his muscles ruined - he could barely stand. The boy tried to take a step forward but fell to his knees, blood pouring from his mouth.

'No... I have to protect her.' He looked over at the girl, lying motionless on the raised stone slab, her wide eyes staring into nothing. 'I have to protect Hinata!'

The Cloud ninja loosed his arrow, and the boy succumbed.

A flash of red lit up the hilltop. The beast roared his defiance as it nocked the arrow aside. Its power was weakened, only one tail remained. But it was far from beaten.

One by one, the black fletched shafts clattered to the ground around its feet. Its host's muscle and bones already beginning to heal, the Fox fixed its glowing red eyes on its new prey.

"Ah, still some fight left in you then." Naoki Shouta reached for his quiver. "It seems my poison still works even on one such as you, or at least on your host." He nocked another arrow to his bowstring. "But I wonder how many more he can take."

* * *

Authors Notes:

This one is my icky/scary chapter. Hope it didn't put anyone off.

Just one more to go before the end of volume two - then it's on to a new plot arc. Believe it or not, this whole story so far has just been setup for the main saga to come. The events of these chapters will have huge ramifications. Soul Fire has a long way to go yet.

Oh, and thanks for over 100 reviews.


	21. Torment

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 2

Chapter 21: Torment

The Fox dropped onto all fours, fixing its prey with its piercing red eyes. The beast growled between its fangs, digging its claws into the ground as it prepared to launch itself into battle.

Naoki Shouta looked down upon the Fox from his perch atop one of the many crumbling stone structures that littered the hilltop. Five of his arrows had not been enough to fell the beast, though they had clearly weakened it. Where previously it had four tails, seemingly made of pure liquid chakra, now only one remained. Still he could feel the force of its chakra bearing down on him. He smirked to himself. This was going to be an interesting night indeed.

With a deafening roar, the Fox hurled itself forward, all of its will focused on tearing its opponent to shreds. Within the span of an eye-blink, the Wind Reader took aim and launched his arrow. Leaping to the side without breaking its charge, the Fox tore toward him. Crushing the ancient flagstones beneath it, the red-cloaked creature launched itself into the air. Sharpened claws held in front, it pounced upon its prey.

Naoki knew he wouldn't last so much as a heartbeat if he found himself within reach of those claws. Leaping to another vantage point, away from his pursuer, he drew and fired again. The black fletched shaft streaked toward its target, timed perfectly to catch it in mid air.

With a sweep of its tail the beast knocked the arrow aside. It landed where its prey had stood just a heartbeat ago. With a roar of pure animosity and malice it launched itself after him again.

From rooftop to rooftop the Fox chased the Cloud ninja across the ruined expanse of the compound. Naoki's arrows were doing little to slow down the beast and, inch by inch, it was gaining on him. Seeing his arrows swept aside with such ease, he knew he would need more than just brute force.

Naoki paused as he landed atop a massive stone statue, its likeness long since worn away. Channelling his chakra into an arrow, he spun to face his pursuer and fired.

The Fox had become wary of his opponents arrows. Seeing the crackling energy arcing across the barbed shaft, it knew better than to try and deflect it. As the archer let loose, the Fox leapt skyward. The beast could almost taste his blood as it fell toward him.

Leaping to the side as the Fox bore down upon him, Naoki drew back his bow and fired again. With a flash of light the arrow split into half a dozen, all converging upon the red eyed beast.

Without even pausing, the Fox threw itself after its prey, into the path of the oncoming arrows. Twisting in mid air the beast coiled its tail around itself, batting the poisoned barbs aside.

The Wind Reader landed atop one of the few unbroken pillars and reached for his quiver. The raging bestial creature was charging blindly toward him, barely thinking about its own safety. Its moves were powerful and incredibly fast, but simple and easy to predict. Direct attacks were clearly a waste of time. But the archer knew it would be all too easy to catch it off guard.

Nocking two arrows at once, Naoki launched them as it fell down upon him yet again. Just as he expected, the Fox simply swept them aside with its massive chakra tail. With a smirk, the former Cloud ninja jumped backward. Charging another of his arrows with a crackling bolt of lightning, he took aim, not at the beast, but at the fragile stone pillar it was about to land on.

The Fox threw its tail up to protect itself. A flash of light momentarily blinded its eyes. With the sound of thunder ringing in its ears, the beast didn't hear the crack of breaking stone. The instant its claws made contact with the top of the column, the stone crumbled away beneath it. The Fox fell to earth through a cloud of dust. Crashing straight through the wall of a once magnificent structure, it rolled to its feet and roared its frustration to the skies.

Its blazing red eyes soon caught sight of its prey. The Cloud ninja's cocky smirk only added to the beast's fury. Pulverising the flagstones beneath it, the Fox launched itself into the air toward its quarry. The archers smirk spread even wider as he drew back his bow and charged the arrow with chakra. Howling its defiance the Fox brought its tail forward, ready to swat away the annoying piece of wood.

The Cloud ninja stood his ground, holding his aim until the beast was almost on him. He waited until he could see the whites of its eyes, then released the string and sent his shot straight toward its heart.

With a flick of its massive tail, the Fox swept it aside. The creature fell upon its prey. It roared in triumph as its claws sunk into his flesh.

But the Fox had been fooled. Its bestial red eyes betrayed it's confusion as the still-smirking ninja melted away into the wind. The beast had barely an instant to realise its mistake before a pair of arrows struck it between the shoulders.

Thunder echoed across the hilltop. The Fox was thrown forward by the force of the double impact. Ploughing through another stone wall, it skidded to a halt, face down on the ground.

Pain coursed throughout the host's body. Its healing energies struggled to repair the damage. Hauling itself onto all fours, the beast turned toward its enemy.

His bow was already drawn as the Fox turned to face him. Before it could throw itself clear, he fired. The beast tried to bring its tail up to shield itself. But the boiling chakra was already melting away. The wind sheathed arrow tore through and struck it in the shoulder.

A howl of pain issued from the creature's throat. Enraged, it charged the Cloud ninja again, but it could feel the body of its host starting to falter. The monster leapt at it's enemy, still intent on rending him limb from limb, but it's claws caught nothing but air.

Naoki knew the battle was all but won. He didn't even bother reaching for another arrow. The beast lunged at him clumsily, still trying to catch him, but it's efforts were in vain. He could see the blazing red chakra fading away. His poison was taking its toll on the host, gradually wearing him down. And as the boy weakened, so did the monster that possessed him.

The Fox could feel its grip weakening rapidly. The boy was beginning to wake. With all its force of will, it tried to overcome the crippling poison that was shutting down its host's chakra network, but it wasn't enough.

The red haze fell from the boy's eyes. He could feel the power slipping away. The pain of his shattered bones and shredded muscles threatened to overwhelm him. He looked up at the smirking Cloud ninja. 'No, I have to beat him. I can't stop now.' Something at the edge of his sight caught his attention; the motionless form of the indigo haired girl, lying chained to a stone slab. 'Hinata... I have to protect her!'

Naoki watched the boy's eyes fade from red to blue, and decided it was time to finish it. He slid a pair of arrows from their quiver and nocked them to his bow. Slowly drawing back the string he took aim. The boy raised his guard. He still had the will to fight on, and just enough strength left to defend himself. But the Wind Reader knew the perfect way to make sure his last two shots would strike home. With a devilish grin, he turned his aim from the boy to the girl.

Naruto's heart leapt into his throat when he saw where those arrows were pointing. Without a second thought, he spent all his remaining strength and threw his shattered body in front of the helpless girl.

A cry of pain broke from his lips as the arrows imbedded themselves deep into his forearms. He felt the poison coursing through his body, burning its way down his chakra pathways. His hands fell to his sides and his knees gave way beneath him. His eyes grew dark as he looked up at his enemy. 'No... I can't... let him beat me.' His mind screamed at his body to move, but the last of his strength had already ebbed away. 'I have to... save her.' Dimly, he could see the Cloud ninja reaching for his quiver again. 'I have to... protect... Hinata.' The Cloud ninja drew back his bow and darkness enveloped him.

"You should be proud, boy," the Wind Reader whispered as he took aim at his heart. "Yours will be a death worthy of honour."

He released is bowstring. His arrow flew straight. The boy was defenceless. But the black fletched shaft never struck home.

With a clash of steel and a shower of sparks, the arrow was knocked aside. Naoki smirked to himself and turned his gaze to face the newcomer. "My, my... This is certainly an interesting night."

Kakashi fixed the Cloud ninja with his sharingan. "Naoki Shouta, the Wind Reader."

Naoki chuckled dryly. "Kakashi Hatake, of the Sharingan Eye."

"I'm afraid your fun's over. You're not getting your hands on either of those two," the copy ninja declared.

The Cloud ninja only grinned wider. "Imagine facing the byakugan, a tailed beast, _and_ the sharingan, all in one night. Now that would be an impressive feat."

Kakashi snorted. "Don't make me laugh. You can act cool all you want. But I can see, plain as day, that you're almost out of chakra, and arrows, too."

Naoki nodded slowly and lowered his hands to his sides. "I guess I can't fool those eyes of yours so easily. You're right. I probably wouldn't stand a chance in this condition."

"So, is that a surrender?" Kakashi asked, tightening his grip on his kunai.

Naoki chuckled to himself again. "Why surrender when I can negotiate?" Slowly, he slipped a hand under his cloak and pulled out a small pouch. "I suspect you want the antidote to my poison more than you want me dead."

"Really?" Kakashi asked sarcastically. "And just what is supposed to stop me from killing you and taking the antidote anyway?"

"And just how long do you think that's going to take, hmm?" Naoki countered. "Longer than he's got left, I'd wager." He waved his bow in the direction of the blonde haired boy, now lying sprawled across the broken flagstones.

Kakashi couldn't deny it. Through his sharingan, he could see Naruto's chakra rapidly fading away. Even though Naoki was weakened, he could still hold him off for a few minutes at least, whereas Naruto looked like he only had seconds. The copy ninja reluctantly lowered his guard. "Alright, I suppose I have no choice."

"A wise decision, and a noble one, too." Naoki carefully laid the pouch on the ground. "Hmm... I'd recommend giving the boy at least two doses, maybe even three. That should be enough for him to survive until he receives proper medical attention. I wouldn't give him any more than that, though. Oh, and don't worry about the girl, she's already received enough, though she seems to have taken her ordeal rather poorly." He took a few steps back from the antidote. "Farewell, Kakashi Hatake. I hope we have the chance to meet again. I would love to see how I would fare against the legendary sharingan."

Kakashi watched the former Cloud ninja disappear into the night, before snatching up the pouch and rushing to the side of his student.

"Hey uh, is it safe to come out now?" asked a diminutive ninja hound.

"Pakkun, keep track of his scent. Make sure he's not hanging around." Kakashi opened the pouch and pulled out a pair of syringes. "This had better work." He pulled back the boys collar and jabbed the first needle into his neck.

Pakkun sniffed the air carefully. "He's heading north, doesn't look like he's coming back."

Kakashi only half listened to the dog as he watched for any sign of improvement from the boy. He checked the arrows still protruding from his body. The Copy Ninja could scarcely believe he was still breathing. But then again, it was Naruto. He considered trying to remove the barbed shafts, but thought better of it. He wasn't exactly a practicing medical ninja and it was likely he would only do more damage. He looked at the second syringe in his hand. 'Well, I suppose it's worth the risk.' He injected the boy again.

After a few tense moments, he stood. "Pakkun, stay with him while I get Hinata. We have to get him back to Sakura as soon as possible."

"Uh, right." The pug gawked worriedly at the small forest of arrows protruding from the boy. "Damn, kid, you sure got yourself into a mess this time."

Kakashi looked over the girl. "Hinata... Hinata can you hear me?" He checked for a pulse. It was slow but steady. "Hinata!" he yelled, trying to shake her awake. But the girl didn't respond.

Tears stained her cheeks. Her pale lavender eyes stared into nothing.

* * *

'Hold on, Kiba,' the young medical ninja silently pleaded. The poison had now spread throughout his system and only her constant efforts were keeping him alive.

She heard a growl from behind her, and turned toward the entrance. Akamaru had smelled something. She readied herself and carefully peered out into the night. 'It'd better be them,' she thought. 'And if they don't have that antidote...'

A few tense minutes passed before a diminutive pug emerged from the gloom carrying something in his mouth. Sakura pulled the huge white dog out of the smaller dog's way. "Pakkun, what happened, where are they?"

Pakkun mumbled something around the pouch before pushing it into the girl's hand. "Kakashi sent me ahead with the antidote."

"This is the antidote?" she exclaimed, quickly pulling it open. "Yes! I think you got it here just in time." She slipped one of the syringes out of the pouch and gave the first injection to Kiba. 'Come on, please let this work,' she begged. The pink haired med ninja studied his vital signs carefully as the antidote took effect. It was another few minutes before she could be sure. She breathed a sigh of relief. "It's working." She drew another needle and injected the fluid into Shino's arm. The bug master stirred, but didn't open his eyes. He'd been almost as bad as Kiba by then.

Sakura wiped sweat off her brow and took a deep breath. "I think they'll have a chance now, but we'll still have to get them back to the village soon." A thought occurred to her and she turned to Pakkun. "Wait, where's Kakashi and Naruto? And what happened to Hinata?"

"Uh... well..." The pug scratched at his ear nervously. "Well there was... some trouble..."

Sakura's face went dark. "W-what kind of trouble?" she asked hesitantly.

Pakkun turned and made his way outside. "They'll be here in a minute."

Something in the dog's voice made her nervous. She checked on Kiba and Shino one more time before she heard someone approaching. She crawled outside the cave to meet them. "Hey, what took you so..." The pink haired girl froze when she saw the two limp bodies. One, a dark haired girl, was carried by Bull, Kakashi's largest summoned ninja hound. But it was the other, slung over Kakashi's back, that turned her blood cold.

She didn't hear the jonin's voice as he carefully laid the boy's motionless form on the ground. She just stood and stared at the scene she never imagined she would see.

"Sakura... _Sakura!_" Kakashi shook the girl out of her trance. "He's alive! He needs help!" he shouted at her.

"A-alive...?" As much as she wanted to, Sakura couldn't believe what he was saying. For a few more seconds she just stared at the boy. Five black fletched arrows protruded from his body. All her medical training told her that nobody could have survived such injuries, even without the addition of poison.

"Sakura!"

The med ninja finally managed to shake off the spell of shock and ran to the boy's side. She checked his vitals and still could hardly believe it was true. "He's breathing..." she said, with a mixture of relief and astonishment.

Finally collecting her thoughts, she reached for a knife and began cutting away his vest. She carefully removed the heavy cloth from around the arrow shafts, followed by the shirt underneath.

"I thought about trying to remove them myself, but I wasn't sure," said Kakashi.

"It's a good thing you didn't," Sakura answered, trying her best to keep her hands from trembling as she worked. "If this isn't done just right, it'll kill him."

The young medical ninja worked for the better part of an hour, carefully removing the barbed arrowheads from the boy's body. Then, one by one, her hands glowing green with chakra, she closed off the wounds.

"Is he out of danger?" Kakashi asked, as she finished her work.

"I think so," she replied quietly. It had been a long night and her fatigue was starting to show. "But he's still lost an awful lot of blood. And then there's the poison. I still can't believe he..."

She stopped in mid sentence. Naruto's body suddenly stiffened, then he started shaking violently.

"Damn it, No!" Sakura cursed. "He's going into shock! Put him on his back."

Kakashi quickly rolled the boy over while Sakura reached for another shot of the antidote. "Hold him down!" she shouted as she tore away the bloodied remains of his shirt. Kakashi pinned his shoulders to the ground. The pink haired girl pushed down on his chest with one hand. "Come on, hold still." Gripping the syringe in her fist, Sakura lifted it up above her head. She took a deep breath before plunging it down, straight into his heart.

Gradually the convulsions died down. Sakura found herself breathing heavily, her hands trembling. She checked his vital signs and found them weak but still there. "We have to get him back to the hospital soon," she stated.

"What about Hinata?" Kakashi asked. "She seems to be alright, but she's not responding."

Sakura mentally slapped herself. She'd actually forgotten about the dark haired girl. She quickly moved to check on her. Sakura gasped when she saw her empty, wide-eyed stare. At first it looked like she was dead, but she could see her chest slowly rising and falling. She was puzzled when she found no serious injuries, other than the wound to her shoulder. "I don't get it," she said in puzzlement. "She's suffering from severe exhaustion and blood loss, but I can't find anything that would cause this. And she's not under any genjutsu that I can detect."

"She saw it," Kakashi said quietly.

"Huh?" Sakura turned to him, confused.

Kakashi just looked her in the eye solemnly. That was all she needed to understand what he meant. She turned to the boy lying on the grass just a few feet away. A tingle of fear ran down her spine as she remembered her own experience with that monster he held within him.

"Come on. Let's get them back to the village," Kakashi said as he stood.

"Right..." Sakura replied quietly. She looked into the pale lavender eyes of her friend. She didn't want to imagine what kind of horrors she had seen.

* * *

Authors Notes:

Okay, here's the end of Volume 2 and the Rescue arc.

Don't worry, there's plenty more where this came from. For those of you who haven't been reading my authors comments, this story is currently around 40 chapters long. I'll be posting the rest on my regular two-per-week schedule until you're up to date with the re-edited chapters on dA (Those of you who have been sneaking over there to continue the story should note that only the first 35 chapters have been properly edited. Anything after that should be considered _"unfinished and subject to change_").

This may seem like a weird place to end the volume. That's probably because this wasn't originally the end of volume 2. During the re-edit process, I decided to reorganise the volumes to make everything neater (and reduce the number of links I needed to post on dA). Volumes 2 and 3 pretty much flow straight into each other. The next few chapters deal with the ramifications of the teen's battles with the Cloud ninja, and the price they have to pay for their mistakes.

Thank you all for over 100 reviews. I hope you'll continue to enjoy.


	22. Beating Hearts

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 22: Beating hearts

"So you're saying that all three members of team Kurenai are in critical condition, thanks to this Naoki?" the Hokage said as she looked over the two ninja before her, "and Naruto along with them."

Kakashi and Sakura didn't answer, though they knew she didn't expect them to. Both were exhausted after carrying their comrades all the way back to the village, barely taking any time to rest. Kakashi stood with slumped shoulders, his hands in his pockets as usual. His one eye looked back at the Hokage wearily. Sakura was blinking more than usual, struggling to keep her eyes open. Every now and then she would shake her head, trying to push back the drowsiness. But still her expression showed that sleep was the last thing on her mind.

The Hokage looked back at them, seeming almost as tired as they were. "And you just let him walk away?" Her tone was more depressed than angry.

"Yeah..." Kakashi answered quietly.

Tsunade took in a deep breath and sighed. "Well, you brought them all back alive, so I suppose you'd call that mission accomplished." Though they all knew it had been a virtual disaster. "Alright, I'd better take a look at them myself."

The trio were greeted by the rhythmic beeping of heart monitors when they entered the room. Two beds stood on either side, each occupied by a young man. Both were wrapped up in an array of bandages, tubes and wires.

The nurse stepped aside, bowing her head to the Hokage. Tsunade examined the first boy. "Hmm... like you said, Sakura, it looks like it was a close call." His usually tan skin was pale and waxy, making the bright red fang tattoos stand out even more. "He'll pull through, alright, but it'll be a few months at least before he's back to active duty."

Sakura hovered behind while Tsunade stepped over to examine the second patient. Shino seemed to be resting much more peacefully. "You said the poison attacks the chakra network, is that right?"

The young med ninja nodded.

"No wonder his parasites couldn't stop it – they feed on chakra themselves, after all." The blonde looked over the brown haired boy. For once, his face was unobscured.

Sakura flinched when an insect crawled across his cheek and disappeared, where to, she didn't want to know. Tsunade stifled a small chuckle. Even her student found the Aburame clan disturbing.

"He just needs some rest," Tsunade confirmed. "He should be up within a week."

The group filed out of the room and down the hall to the next. The beep of a heart monitor greeted them again. Fresh bandages covered the upper body of the young man that lay in the only bed.

Tsunade paused over the boy for a moment, a look of sadness etched on her face. "So reckless..." she whispered to him. "If there's one thing you've always been good at it's getting into trouble."

Sakura watched as the Hokage examined the boy thoroughly, her green eyes betraying a deep sense of worry. Kakashi leant against a wall, his eye closed, hands still in his pockets. For several minutes the only sound was the slow, rhythmic beep of the heart monitor.

Tsunade's brow furrowed in thought. With a wave she sent the nurse out of the room. After waiting for the click of the door closing behind her, she pulled back the bed sheets to uncover the boy's stomach. With a few hand signs and a moment of concentration, she began tracing a spiral over his belly with her finger. Slowly the hidden markings began to appear. She peered at them intently.

"Hmm... It seems the massive dose of poison was too much even for... his _tenant_ to deal with." Tsunade covered him with the sheets again as the marks began to fade. "His chakra network is barely functioning. It doesn't look like he'll bounce back from this one like he usually does."

"So how long do you think it will take?" Sakura asked.

"Hard to say," the Hokage replied. "The fact is, he should be dead. It looks like the Fox is doing everything it can just to keep him alive. With his chakra flow inhibited by the poison, his healing ability has been weakened. There's enough of that poison left in him to kill a herd of cattle."

Kakashi looked up in surprise. "But shouldn't the antidote have neutralised it?"

"We can't give him enough to neutralise all of it," Sakura answered, shaking her head slowly. "Unfortunately the antidote is almost as dangerous as the poison itself. It works by forcing open the chakra pathways and putting the heart, liver and kidneys into overdrive in order to flush out the poison. But his organs and chakra pathways have already been pushed to their limits. If they are stressed any more they could start to fail... and he would die."

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a depressed sigh. "For now it looks like the Fox is managing to deliver enough chakra through his body to keep it functioning. Eventually the poison will break down and be flushed out of his system, then he'll be able to heal as normal. But we can't be sure how long that will take. He could wake up tomorrow, or he could be out for even longer than Kiba."

"Well then, I guess we just have to wait," said Kakashi, pushing himself off the wall. "That just leaves Hinata."

Again, the three filed out of the room and into the next. This time there was no heart monitor, no mass of tubes. The girl just lay in bed staring at the ceiling. One would think she was wide awake, but she didn't make even the slightest reaction when the trio entered.

"I don't understand it," Sakura said, her confusion tempered with sadness. "Her wounds are bad, but not life threatening. She received the antidote within an hour of being poisoned and most of it has already broken down. The Cloud ninja even treated her shoulder themselves. Her body is showing signs of severe exhaustion and her chakra network is overstressed, but that doesn't explain her condition."

Tsunade picked up her chart and perused it carefully. "Hmm... her blood tests show that the poison has almost worked its way out of her system already, as you said. But there are traces of other substances in her blood, too."

Sakura looked over her shoulder at the test results. "It looks like she took a soldier pill. That would explain the extreme fatigue."

Tsunade frowned. "Perhaps... But the amounts I'm seeing here don't seem right. She took the pill over twenty-four hours ago, there shouldn't be that much left of it. It almost looks like she took three or four, but that would have killed her." She handed the chart to Sakura and began examining the young Hyuuga.

"As expected, there is massive damage to her chakra network," the Hokage commented, "more than would have been caused by the poison alone."

"The soldier pill, maybe?" Sakura suggested.

Tsunade nodded and continued her analysis. "Such a large increase in chakra flow could be the cause." The Hokage moved from the girl's body up to her head and eyes. A look of surprise crossed the woman's face. "But I don't think it could explain this."

"Huh? What did you find?" asked her pink haired student.

"I'm seeing extensive damage to the chakra pathways leading to her eyes," Tsunade answered without looking up from her patient.

"But that could be explained by the poison and the increased chakra flow from the soldier pill, couldn't it?"

"Not all of it. There's minor scarring and remnants of severe overexertion, but it's at least a few weeks old. Her byakugan must have been put under extreme stress at some point, and her chakra pathways have been recovering since then."

"Our mission to the Land of Water?" Kakashi suggested.

"That's right," Sakura noted. "She pushed herself so hard."

"It looks like her eyes, and the chakra pathways leading to them, hadn't had time to recover completely. But still, that doesn't account for her current state." Tsunade looked over to Kakashi. "You said she saw... '_it'_?"

Kakashi sighed and gave a short nod. "Yes."

"Hmm..." She turned back to the young Hyuuga, who continued to stare up at the ceiling as though she was completely unaware of all the attention. "Hinata was always emotionally fragile. Perhaps the stress of capture, her injuries, the effects of all these foreign substances, and seeing the Fox was all just too much for her mind and body to take. It looks like she's suffering from a severe psychological breakdown caused by intense physical, mental and emotional stress."

"You mean like what happened to S..." Sakura paused. She turned her head down in sadness, "what Itachi did?"

Tsunade felt a pang of sympathy for her apprentice. "Perhaps. I'll see what I can do." She placed a hand over the Hyuuga girl's forehead. A faint green glow surrounded her fingers.

The other two ninja looked on in anticipation. For at least a minute the Hokage stood with her eyes closed and her brow creased in concentration. Finally the green glow faded and she pulled her hand away slowly. The indigo haired girl didn't stir. She continued to stare blankly at the ceiling.

Tsunade sighed. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. There was no ninjutsu or genjutsu afflicting her. I couldn't find anything artificial in her mind that would bring about this kind of condition." She looked up at the two of them, a serious expression sitting heavily on her face. "My only explanation is that she saw something which terrified her so much that her mind simply couldn't take the stress. She's barricaded her mind against anything and everything – shutting herself off to escape the cause of her fear."

"So how long before she comes out of it?" Sakura ventured.

Tsunade looked into the pale, lifeless eyes of the young girl lying motionless on the hospital bed. "I don't know," she replied sadly. "I guess that's up to her."

* * *

Sakura almost gagged as she swallowed the foul concoction. The coffee from the hospital vending machines was still the worst she had ever tasted. She shuddered visibly and tossed the paper cup into the waste basket. The young med ninja hated coffee, but she needed something to keep her going. The last two weeks had taken their toll on her.

"Good morning, Sakura," the nurse chimed.

"Oh, good morning, Nami," she replied unenthusiastically. "Any changes?" she asked, taking the files that were handed to her.

Nami smiled sympathetically. "I'm afraid not."

"Hmm... thank you."

Sakura flicked through the files while the night nurse left to finish her shift. She looked at Shino's first, needing something to make her feel better. He'd been discharged last week and was only coming in for checkups. All blood tests were clear – wounds had healed well. He would be ready for active duty in another week. Next was Kiba. He'd woken up a few days ago and was just about back on his feet. The young dog master had complained bitterly about not being allowed to see Akamaru. Sakura let herself smile a little at that.

But it was the next two files that she was dreading. She flicked through Nami's report on Naruto's progress. Nothing significant, just as she'd said. The poison had slowly begun to break down, but his liver and kidneys could only process the massive amount slowly. There was still no way of knowing when he would wake up.

Lastly, there were Hinata's results. They seemed to look good at first, as they had for the last two weeks. Her shoulder was healing well and her blood tests were as good as Shino's. If that had been all, she could have been sent home already. But her _other_ _condition_ hadn't really changed.

Sakura took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping in. "Good morning, Hinata," she said quietly, forcing a smile through the depression.

The young woman was propped up in a sitting position, hands in her lap. She stared at her bed sheets through half open eyes. There was no indication that she'd seen or heard the pink haired girl at all.

Sakura fought back a feeling of depression. She hated seeing her friend like this. It was even worse than seeing Naruto the way he was. At least with him she could do something that made it feel like she was helping – changing his bandages, replacing his I.V. She knew that what she was doing would help him get better soon. But although she could change Hinata's dressings and help heal her physical wounds, there was nothing she could do for her mind. Sakura felt helpless.

She laid the files aside and looked over the girl's shoulder briefly. "It looks like you're healing well," she said softly. Sakura knew that patients with her kind of condition could sometimes hear people, and listening to a familiar voice could help them to come out of it. But there was no response from the Indigo haired girl.

"Alright, let's do a proper examination." She pulled back the bed sheets and turned her legs around to hang over the edge.

Hinata didn't resist, but neither did she just lay there as though she was unconscious. She was like a doll, allowing herself to be moved, sitting up without falling over, but making no movements of her own.

Sakura began her routine check-up. "You know, Shino's tests are all fine," she ventured. "He should be back to active duty soon. He said he would come and see you later. Would you like that, Hinata?"

No response. She just stared at the floor, slowly breathing in and out.

"Kiba's getting better, too. He was asking if you were okay. Maybe we could bring him in to see you when Shino comes."

Still, the dark haired girl made no reaction.

Sakura fought back a tear. She made it her mission in life to help people, but here she could do nothing to help her friend. "You know, Shino and Kiba both said that you saved them. You left to draw off those Cloud ninja all by yourself." She sniffed back another tear. "They both wanted to thank you, Hinata. They're your friends and they want you to get better. We all do."

She tried to look into the pale lavender eyes of the young woman, but they just stared right through her.

"Please get better, Hinata."

The young med ninja was startled by a knock at the door. She stood and turned as a nurse entered.

"Excuse me but Lady Hinata has a visitor."

"Yes of course." Sakura did her best to compose herself.

The nurse stepped back into the hallway, holding the door open. In stepped a middle aged man wearing a semi-formal kimono.

Sakura bowed her head respectfully when she recognised the visitor. "Good morning, Lord Hiashi."

The Hyuuga clan leader simply nodded in response. He stepped forward, his white eyes fixed on the young woman sitting on the bed. "And how is my daughter feeling?" he asked, his voice devoid of either cheer or worry.

"Well, physically her condition is quite good. I would normally recommend that she return home, but..."

Lord Hiashi turned to regard the medical ninja. He raised an eyebrow in question.

Sakura paused a moment before continuing. "But her mental state is not good at all. As I'm sure you know; she was captured by the Cloud ninja that ambushed her team. The experience was... emotionally damaging. She hasn't moved, or spoken, or made any reaction to anything at all since she was rescued."

The Hyuuga Lord frowned slightly at her comments. "Was she subjected to some kind of torture?"

Sakura knew she couldn't tell him the whole story. Speaking about the Fox was strictly forbidden already, even to those that knew of its existence. But an even greater secret was exactly how dangerous it was. She didn't dare tell Hiashi that Naruto couldn't completely control the Fox, or that Hinata had seen it take him over.

"Fortunately my team was able to rescue her before anything like that could happen," she answered with a slight hesitation, "but I'm afraid she saw things that her mind simply couldn't take. She has suffered some kind of severe mental breakdown, and hasn't responded to anything since it happened. She may be able to hear us, and we can try to encourage her to come back, but until she's ready, she'll stay like this."

The Hyuuga lord's cold gaze returned to his daughter. "Leave me with her."

Sakura hesitated. She remembered how Hinata had spoken of her father during their voyage to the Land of Water. With reluctance she stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Hiashi stood in front of his daughter and looked down upon her. "Hinata," he said, trying to gain her attention.

The girl sat unmoving.

"Hinata," he said more clearly.

Still there was no response from the young woman.

Hiashi sighed in frustration, turning his eyes from his daughter. "Why was I given such a burden to bear?" he asked. "Why must I place all of my hopes for the future of our clan upon one so unsuited? Our clan needs a strong leader – it deserves a strong leader. One so fragile cannot hope to bear the weight of such a responsibility."

The Hyuuga Lord turned toward the window and looked out upon the village. "Was it some failing of mine? Am I to blame for producing such a weak and pitiful heir?" He looked down at his open palms. "I was the firstborn of the main household. My blood should be the strongest. And that blood should have been passed on to you." His hands balled into fists and he glared at them in frustration. "I tried to make you strong. I instructed you in the ways of our clan, just as I had been. You were given every opportunity to become the best. But it seems it was all wasted effort."

Lord Hiashi let his hands fall to his sides. "Why?" he whispered to himself bitterly. "Why, my brother, did it have to happen this way? Why was your blood stronger than mine? Why was I forced to banish your favoured son to the branch house when he could have so easily been born the heir himself? Would it have been better if he had been born as my son? Or was it you that should have been born first instead of me?"

He turned and glared at his daughter. "You have never lived up to my expectations, Hinata. As your father, I can forgive you for that. But failing to become the heir that our clan deserves... as lord of our clan, I can _not_ forgive you."

Hiashi stepped forward to stand over the girl again. "For six generations the line of succession has remained unbroken. The firstborn of the main household has always become the leader of our clan." His pale eyes narrowed as he looked down upon her. "But if you continue to embarrass me and our house, I _will_ pass on your birthright to another."

The young heiress made no response to her father. She just sat on the edge of her hospital bed, the only movement she made was her chest, slowly rising and falling.

The Hyuuga lord waited for an answer, but received none. He placed a hand firmly on her shoulder. "Do you hear me, Hinata?"

She didn't say a word.

"Answer me, Hinata," he demanded.

Still he received no response.

He tightened his grip. "Listen to me, Hinata. If you cannot face your fears and prove that your will is strong enough to lead our clan then you will no longer be my heir!"

He had lectured her like this countless times before. Normally she would shrink into herself and begin fidgeting, mumbling apologies while sniffing back tears. But this time she didn't move a muscle. She seemed to pay no attention to his words or his hand on her shoulder. She didn't even seem to notice he was there. And if anything, that angered Hiashi even more than her usual timidity.

"Answer me!" he shouted. "Answer me this instant!" He shook the young woman sharply. "If you do not answer me, you will be banished from the main household forever! I will strip you of your birthright and cast you aside! You will live the remainder of your days as a disgrace, as the one who failed to live up to the expectations of your family! You will be nothing but an embarrassment to the entire clan!"

But he did not receive even the slightest response from the girl.

"ANSWER ME!" he roared. Boiling with rage, the Hyuuga clan's lord raised his palm and struck her across the face. Like a rag doll, she simply fell to the side onto her bed.

"HIASHI!"

Still fuming, he spun around to face the door and glared at the intruder.

Her face set in an equally venomous glare, the Hokage stormed into the room, planting herself squarely in front of the Hyuuga Lord. She stared straight into his pale eyes and spoke through her teeth. "If you strike my patient again, I will have you in chains!"

Hiashi sneered at her. "Your patient or not, she is _my_ daughter. And not even the Hokage has the right to interfere in the affairs of my clan."

"As long as she is in this hospital, she is under my care and protection," Tsunade shot back. "I don't care if you're her father, _or_ the head of the Hyuuga clan. You're not going to lay one finger on her!"

Hiashi's eyes narrowed. "According to the laws laid down by the First Hokage, your grandfather, you have no right to prevent me from performing my duties as clan head," His voice became low and cold, "especially in regards to the application of the caged-bird seal!"

Tsunade flinched. "Are you serious?" she growled. "You're actually going to put that damn seal on your firstborn child!"

"She has chosen that fate for herself," Hiashi declared.

"You don't understand what happened to her!" Tsunade protested. "She can't even speak. She was faced with something so terrifying that her mind couldn't deal with it."

"Then you have only proven my point!" Hiashi snapped back. "Her cowardice proves that she does not have the strength of will to lead my clan! I will relieve her of this burden which is clearly too much for her. As of today she is no longer my heir!"

Tsunade was stunned. She balled her fists, aching to send him crashing into unconsciousness. But she knew her hands were tied. Even she was bound by the laws of the village.

"Koh," he called, without breaking the Hokage's gaze.

"Yes, Lord Hiashi?" A Hyuuga branch member, his forehead hidden behind bandages, stepped into the doorway.

"Bring my daughter," Hiashi commanded. "I shall perform the sealing ritual tonight."

Koh hesitated for a brief moment, his expression betraying a clear feeling of sympathy for the girl. "Yes, my lord," he finally answered, before moving to carry out his orders. He knew there was no point in arguing.

Sakura could only look on as her friend was carried down the hall in a wheelchair. She shuddered at the thought of what her own father was going to do to her. She'd heard about that seal and what it meant. But there was nothing she could do. She felt even more helpless than she had before.

* * *

'What is that annoying noise?' Naruto wondered. 'Is the roof leaking again?' He listened to the slow, rhythmic sound.

_'pick... pick... pick...'_ It seemed distant for some reason, like an echo from the other end of a long corridor.

'Ugh, and what is this pain in my... _everything?_' He did his best to get his addled brain working again. Slowly the pain became clearer, along with the sound. 'Wait, that's not the roof leaking.'

_'beep... beep... beep...'_

'Aw man, I know that sound. I'm in the hospital again, aren't I?'

He tried to remember what happened. The memories came back to him in flashes. A chase... a battle... someone in danger... someone important.

His ears picked up another faint sound behind the beeping. 'Is that someone crying?' He listened to the gentle sobs. It sounded like a girl. "Hi-na-ta?"

The crying stopped. He heard a gasp of surprise. "N-Naruto?"

He tried to open his eyes. Everything was a blur. He could just barely make out the shape of somebody leaning over him. "Hinata?"

"Naruto, you're awake!" she exclaimed, joy and relief evident in her voice.

Gradually his eyes began to adjust. He managed to make out a smiling face framed by candy pink hair. "Sakura... is that you?" he croaked.

"Of course it's me, you idiot." Her words were harsh, but the tone was soft.

The boy saw her wipe her hand across her face. 'Was she the one that was crying?' he wondered. "What happened?" he managed to ask.

"You're in the hospital. You got yourself beat up again," she answered. "And a little bit worse than usual, too."

More memories came trickling back. There was a hill. He was climbing the steps to the top. And when he got there, he saw... "Hinata!" He bolted upright. Lances of pain shot throughout his body, and the heart monitor went berserk.

"Stay down," Sakura ordered, pushing him back into bed. "It's alright. We... we got her back."

The pain gradually receded. He looked up into her face and saw sadness. "So... she's okay?"

Sakura hesitated. "Yeah... yeah, she's... healing just fine." She turned her head away and sniffed as though trying to hold back a tear.

"Hey uh, Sakura... was that you I heard crying?"

She didn't answer at first. He could tell she was struggling to keep her emotions in check. "Her father came," she finally said in a quivering voice. "He took her away and... and said... he was going to put the caged-bird seal on her."

"W-what?" He knew about that seal from his match with Neji. He'd heard the terrible stories about how the main branch used it to control the rest of the clan, treating them like slaves. "Why would he do that? She's supposed to be the next clan leader, right?" He found himself gripping the bed sheets with shaking hands. "What did she do wrong?"

"It wasn't her fault," Sakura said, trying to wipe away the tears forming under her emerald eyes. "It was... it was all too much for her. Fighting the Cloud ninja, getting captured... And then she... she saw..."

"What?" he asked, though he feared he knew the answer.

"She saw the Fox," she whispered. "It was too much. She was so afraid. Her mind couldn't take it, so... so she shut herself away."

The trickle of memories became a flood. That Cloud ninja with the knife – he wanted to kill him! He tried to hurt Hinata! He wanted to kill him – tear him apart – rip him into tiny little shreds! Then he saw her in his mind. How did she get there? She was screaming. He'd never seen someone so afraid!

"W-what do you mean, 'shut herself away'?"

She blew her nose on a handkerchief and tried to explain. "Sometimes, when somebody sees something that is too frightening for them to take, their mind just sort of tries to hide. Hinata was so scared that she just disappeared into herself. When Kakashi sensei found her she was just staring into space. We tried to wake her up, but she wouldn't come out of it. Not even Lady Tsunade could help her. She just sat there, not moving or speaking or anything."

The boy wrung the bed sheets with trembling hands. "D-did I do that to her?" he asked shakily. "Did she end up like that because of me?"

"It wasn't your fault, Naruto," Sakura reassured him. "I know you'd never..."

"Yes it was!" he shouted, moisture collecting at the edge of his eyes. "_I_ let that damn thing out! And now her father's gonna put that damn seal on her because of me! It's not her fault. I can't let him do it!" He struggled to pull himself into a sitting position, but the pain dragged him back down.

"Naruto, please," She gently pushed him back down onto the pillow, "don't hurt yourself any more. You took a massive dose of poison. You should be dead! Believe me, I hate it, too. And so does Lade Tsunade. But there's nothing we can do about it."

He gritted his teeth against the pain. "I promised... I'd... protect her," he groaned.

Sakura barely forced back another tear. "It'll be alright," she told him, though she didn't really believe it. "You're not going anywhere like this. Just wait. I'll go tell Lady Tsunade you're awake."

He lay back and waited for the pain to ebb. Sakura's footsteps echoed down the hallway, gradually fading away. Soon everything went coldly silent except for the constant beeping of his heart monitor.

'Hinata... She was gonna be the head of her clan. She was gonna help me run the village after I became Hokage.' His hands still gripped the sheets tightly. 'She would have been a good clan leader. She's kind and caring, and she's really strong, too.' He squeezed his eyes shut as hot tears began to well up behind them. 'But now it's never gonna happen. Her father doesn't think she's good enough. He's gonna put that damn seal on her, just like Neji.'

A memory from long ago crashed into his thoughts. 'Neji! I told him I was gonna change the way of the Hyuuga. I was gonna make them get rid of that seal when I became Hokage.' His eyes flew open. 'But Hinata can't wait until I become Hokage. If I'm gonna change the way of the Hyuuga and protect Hinata, I'm gonna have to start right now!'

Gritting his teeth against the pain, the boy threw off his bed sheets and slowly pushed himself up. His head swam, and the room seemed to pitch and roll around him. Swinging his legs over the side, he put his feet on the floor and tried to stand. His body felt like it weighed a ton while his legs felt like they were made of rubber. The heart monitor went frantic. The boy looked around the room for his clothes. Finding them hung over the back of a chair, he took a step toward them. The first step was almost his last. He had to grab hold of the bedside table to keep from falling.

'No! I have to do this!' he told himself. 'I'm not gonna let her pay for what I did to her!'

He managed a few more steps, but stopped when he felt something tugging on his arm. Looking down the boy noticed, for the first time, all the bandages wrapped around his chest and the wires and tubes sticking out of his arm. Biting his lip, he yanked them free. Naruto knew he'd have to move fast when the beeping of the heart monitor was replaced with a flat, piercing tone. He staggered over to the chair and struggled to haul on his trousers. There was just enough time for him to slip on his sandals before the sound of running footsteps echoed down the hall toward him.

'That's it, I've gotta go now.' The boy stumbled over to the window and leapt out onto the grass below. His knees buckled under him as soon as he hit the ground, and he barely managed to catch himself. The shock of impact sent a ripple of pain throughout his body. The boy collapsed onto his back and almost blacked out. It was only the second story window. Normally such a jump would be a piece of cake for any ninja, but he was having enough trouble just trying to walk. 'Come on, Naruto! Get moving!' he commanded himself.

Waves of pain washed over him. Sweat soaked his bandages. Hauling himself to his feet, the boy headed for the cover of nearby buildings. He could hear the nurses calling his name, but he didn't turn around. It was too late to go back now.

The battered and exhausted young man staggered his way through the streets of Konoha, keeping to the alleys and away from the crowds as much as he could. He knew that Sakura would be after him the moment she found out he was gone. He couldn't afford to get caught, though. Hinata was in trouble, and it was all his fault.

Finally his agonizing journey was nearing its end. He stumbled through the gates into the courtyard of the Hyuuga manor. A large building with covered porches stood directly in front of him. Gathering his strength, the young man drew himself straight and headed for the front door.

"Naruto?"

The blonde turned his heavy head to face what could be his next obstacle. "Where... is she... Neji?" he wheezed out between laboured breaths.

The Young Hyuuga genius stepped in front of him. "Naruto, what are you doing here? You look like you should be in a hospital."

The boy stared straight into his pale eyes. "Hinata... where is she?"

For a moment, he caught a flicker of sadness in the young Hyuuga's face. "Lord Hiashi is preparing her for the sealing ritual," he answered. His voice was flat and lifeless, as though he was speaking of her funeral. "I'm afraid nobody is allowed to see her."

"Then I'm not too late," Naruto said thankfully. "Take me to this Lord Hiashi guy. I've gotta tell him to stop this. It's my fault Hinata's like that. I can't let him put that seal on her because of me."

Neji sighed. "Naruto, don't be ridiculous." His voice betrayed his depression. "Lord Hiashi has made his decision. There's nothing you can do to change his mind."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "Just tell me where they are," he growled.

The young Hyuuga took a step to the side, placing himself between the boy and a large hall that stood apart from the main buildings. "It is my duty, as a member of the side branch, to protect the head family. I cannot let you pass," he stated, though he clearly wasn't happy about it.

The boy reached up a shaking hand and gripped him by the collar. "You want to protect the head family? Then stay out of my way!" he ordered. "Hinata is going to be the leader of the Hyuuga clan some day. She's going to prove to everyone how strong she is." Naruto gripped his collar tighter and stared into the Hyuuga's pupil-less white eyes, his face set in a look of absolute, unshakeable conviction. "I told you I would change the ways of your clan, and I'm gonna start right here and right now!"

The Hyuuga prodigy stared back at him in quiet shock. Without a word, he stepped aside and let the boy pass.

Hiashi Hyuuga spun around when he heard the doors of the hall burst open. He glared at the intruder standing in the doorway, bandaged from head to toe and only half dressed. "Who are you? What are you doing in my house?" he demanded.

The boy looked past him to the indigo haired girl kneeling behind her father. She was dressed in a simple white kimono. A ring of sigils marked the floor around her, along with six unlit candles. She stared blankly at the floor, not making any reaction to his entrance. The boy's eyes zeroed in on her forehead. He let the tension in his muscles ease for a moment when he saw clear skin behind her dark fringe. Then he fixed his gaze on the man who stood between them. "You! You're Hiashi, aren't you?"

The Hyuuga head scowled at the boy. "I am Lord Hiashi Hyuuga, head of the Hyuuga clan and master of this house. You will state your name and business immediately, or you will be arrested as an intruder!"

The boy staggered into the hall. He planted his unsteady feet and glared back at the Hyuuga Lord. "My Name is Naruto Uzumaki. And I am here to stop you from trying to hurt my friend!"

* * *

Authors Notes:

Yay, volume 3. Pretty much a direct continuation of the previous volume, but with a definite shift in direction, as you can see. Things start to get complicated from now on.

Please feel free to make wild predictions. Just don't go cheating by reading the chapters already posted on dA. The rest of this volume is waiting in the wings, just needing a little final tweaking. I'll be posting a new chapter every few days as normal... Provided I remember, that is. I almost forgot, today.


	23. Reborn

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 23: Reborn

"Lady Hokage!" the nurse called out as she ran down the hospital hallway toward the blonde woman and the pink haired girl.

"What's going on?" Tsunade asked, hearing her panicked tone.

"It's Naruto," the nurse answered frantically. "He's disappeared!"

"What?" the two med ninja shouted in unison.

The door to Naruto's hospital room burst open and the Hokage stormed in, followed closely by her apprentice. "Damn that slippery little rat!" Tsunade fumed. Her fists clenched, just begging to pulverise something. "Did he run off to that ramen shop again?"

Sakura gasped when a much more disturbing thought entered her head. "Oh no! I think I know exactly where he went."

"Where?" the enraged blonde demanded.

Sakura's hands began to tremble as a feeling of panic took hold of her. "I thought he was too weak to go anywhere. He couldn't even sit up. If he tries to stop it, he could..."

All of Tsunade's anger melted away when she saw the fear in her emerald green eyes. "Sakura, where did he go?" the Hokage asked fearfully.

She turned to the blonde, her lips trembling. "I... I told him about Hinata. I told him what her father was going to do to her. He thought it was all his fault."

The Hokage froze for a moment as a feeling of dread passed over her, too. "Sakura," she said in a quiet but deathly serious tone, "you find Shizune while I assemble an emergency medical team. We're heading for the Hyuuga manor."

"Y-you don't think he would..."

She looked the young med ninja straight in the eye. "I just hope that I don't know Naruto _or_ Hiashi as well as I think I do."

* * *

An almost palpable tension hung in the air as the blonde haired boy and the Hyuuga Lord glared at each other across the hall. Hiashi's white eyes looked the boy up and down. His upper body and forearms were swathed in bandages, his arms dangled at his sides, and his knees struggled to hold his weight, his breathing was heavy and he looked ready to collapse at any moment, but his face was set in a look of fierce determination.

"This is my house, _Naruto Uzumaki_," Hiashi stated, spitting the boy's name dismissively, "and you have entered here uninvited. You will leave immediately."

The boy sneered at him. "I'm not going anywhere," he declared. "I came here to protect Hinata."

Hiashi stared at the boy impassively. "My daughter does not need your protection. Now leave."

"The hell she doesn't!" the boy yelled, breathing heavily from the effort. He raised a shaking arm and pointed accusingly at the Hyuuga head. "You're gonna put that damn seal on her!"

Hiashi's eyes narrowed. "The affairs of the Hyuuga clan are of no concern of yours, boy. You have no right to interfere in our business."

The young man growled between his teeth. "You don't know what you're doing!" he shouted. "You can't blame her for what she's been through! You don't even know what happened to her out there!"

"I am fully aware of her most recent _failure_," Hiashi retorted. "My house has already been embarrassed enough by her weakness."

"Weakness?" The boy's face contorted with rage. "You have no idea how strong she is! She took on four rogue ninja all by herself! She almost died out there, and she did it all to protect her friends! Hinata is not weak! She's one of the strongest people I know!"

'...That voice...' Like a distant echo, the words drifted to her, piercing through the emptiness. '...I know that voice...' Slowly her mind began to awaken from the lonely void. '...Naruto...?'

Hiashi sneered at the boy's remarks. "Do not waste your time trying to tell me of my daughter's merits. As her father, I understand her lack of ability all too well. By the standards of the Hyuuga clan, her skills are average at best. And that is unacceptable for the main branch of our house!"

The boy's fists began shaking with anger. "You call yourself her father? You don't know anything about her!" he shouted. "You don't know how hard she works, or how much pain she's been through, or how much she's willing to sacrifice for her friends. Or maybe you just don't care!"

The sound of urgent voices and running footsteps distracted them from their confrontation. A group of half a dozen Hyuuga burst through the entrance to the hall.

"Lord Hiashi, is there a problem?" asked one of the men when he saw the blonde haired boy.

Naruto scowled at them – unfazed by their aggressive postures. The boy was prepared to fight all of them at once if he had to. Though in truth he could have barely stood up against a strong breeze in his condition, he would still defy anyone who would threaten Hinata's safety.

"Hiashi, what is the meaning of this?"

The group of Hyuuga parted, and a small, elderly man stepped through the gap. The boy noticed a resemblance between the old man and the Hyuuga head. His pale pupil-less eyes clearly marked him as a Hyuuga, but unlike the others, there was nothing covering his weathered brow.

The old man looked Naruto up and down with an impassive, stony glare. Then he looked past him at the girl kneeling on the floor within the ring of sigils. His wrinkled features creased further into a frown. "So, Hiashi, you have made your decision I see. But this ritual is not supposed to have an audience."

"This is nothing for you to concern yourself with, Father," Hiashi answered the elderly man. "This does not concern any of you. I will deal with this matter myself." He turned his full attention back to the boy. "You have tried my patience more than enough, Naruto Uzumaki. I have no interest in your opinion of my daughter. Now I will give you one last chance to leave peacefully before I remove you from my house."

The boy gritted his teeth. His whole body shook with rage. "You arrogant jerk! You don't care what anyone says, do you?" He raised his fist and took a step forward. "Well if you're not gonna listen, then I'm just gonna have to make you!"

His legs weak, and his whole body still wracked with pain and fatigue, the boy hurled himself toward the Hyuuga head.

'...What happened...? Where am I...?' the girl asked herself as the white haze slowly lifted from in front of her eyes. '...Who is that...? Is that Naruto...?' Her eyes, her ears, her whole body seemed distant. She tried to turn her head to the sound of the voice, but it wouldn't move. Finally the haze lifted enough for her to see the two figures. '...My father... and Naruto...' She could see the boy moving toward her father. The world she saw around her seemed to ripple like the surface of a pond. Everything seemed to be happening slowly, as though the pair were moving through water. '...What are they doing...? Why is he running toward him like that...?' She gave a silent gasp. '...No... he can't be...!'

The chakra pathways around Hiashi's eyes bulged. The young man's movements were slow and clumsy. Clearly his injuries were crippling. He could barely stand, let alone fight. Naruto drew back his fist and swung at him feebly. With a sweep of his hand, Hiashi knocked the blow aside. The boy stumbled, and the Hyuuga Lord wasted no time. He channelled chakra into his hand and thrust his palm into the boy's chest.

Naruto cried out in pain. The force of the blow threw him backward and sent him crashing to the polished wooden floor. A crushing pain clamped around his heart and made his lungs heave. The boy rolled onto his stomach, coughing violently between gasps for breath.

'...Naruto, no...!" the girl gasped silently as she watched her father throw the boy to the floor. '...Please, father, don't hurt him...' She tried to will her body to move, but still she felt nothing.

Lord Hiashi glared at the young man as he struggled to push himself to his feet. "You have dared to attack me in my own home, Naruto Uzumaki!" he growled, his face set in a fearsome visage of rage. "I have every right to kill you where you stand! But to kill a Leaf shinobi, and one in such pitiful condition no less, would only bring more shame to my house. So I will give you just one more chance. Leave, and do not enter my house again!"

The boy grunted in pain as he pulled himself up onto his shaking legs. Struggling for breath, he lifted his head to look the Hyuuga Lord in the eye. "You... c-can... forget it..." he choked out. "I... w-won't... let you... hurt... her." Barely able to keep himself upright, he stumbled toward the waiting man and raised a shaking fist.

'...No, Naruto... please stop...' She tried to cry out, but her lips wouldn't move. She could only watch the scene as it played out before her like some horrible nightmare.

Not bothering to step aside, Hiashi caught the feeble punch with one palm before thrusting the other into the boy's stomach. Naruto doubled over. The blow knocked the wind out of him and sent the same crushing pain through his abdomen. Far from finished, Hiashi gripped the boy's fist tightly and made another strike to his immobilized arm.

The boy tried to cry out in pain, but with no breath in his lungs he could only gasp. His whole world seemed to spin and darkness clouded the edge of his vision. Before he knew what was happening, the next blow caught him under the chin. A moment later, he found himself sprawled across the floor, the darkness threatening to overwhelm him.

The girl watched in silent shock as he fell to the ground, limp. '...Naruto... please get up... please...' She begged her body to move, to speak, to do anything to help the boy.

The twitch of a finger... the flicker of an eyelid... the slightest movement of the lips and the faintest whisper of breath... "Na-ru-to..."

Anger flashed in Hiashi's pale white eyes. Slowly he stepped toward the boy lying motionless on the floor. "I gave you more than enough warning, Naruto Uzumaki!" he growled through his teeth. "You have no one to blame but yourself!"

"Uncle, no!"

Hiashi's last blow stopped short when a firm hand gripped his arm. He spun around to glare at his nephew. "Get out of my way, Neji!" he spat, his face contorted with rage.

"No, Uncle! I can't let you do this!" Neji declared.

With a roar of anger, Hiashi threw off his grip, pushing the young Hyuuga backward. "You will learn your place!" he shouted, as he squared off against his nephew. "You should know the consequences of defying the main branch!"

Few things could scare the young Hyuuga genius, but when he saw that dreaded hand sign he froze in fear. He had only seen it once before, when he was just a child, but the memory was burned deep into his mind.

Like piercing slivers of cold steel, the pain bored into his head. He gripped his temples in a futile attempt to stop it. Dropping to his knees, Neji screamed.

'...Neji...!' The girl could only look on helplessly as she watched her cousin fall. '...Why, father... why are you doing this...?' She watched in horror as the young man curled into a ball, clawing at his head and crying out in agony.

A sudden flash of white washed over her like a cresting wave. Sparks danced before her eyes, swarming and bursting. All colour fell away from her sight. She saw it, burned into his forehead like a hideous green scar. Behind the steel plate and cloth wrappings the caged-bird seal on her cousin's brow flared like the sun. And behind it she could see the blazing tendrils of pain boring into his head. Through her eyes she could see his pain, and almost feel it.

With every ounce of strength she could muster she tried to cry out. But only the tiniest wisp of breath escaped her lips. "...Father... stop..."

Lord Hiashi glared down at his nephew, lying in the foetal position, shuddering in agony. Finally he released him from the seal's grip. The young Hyuuga still lay shaking, clutching his head and whimpering. "Don't try to stand in my way again!" Hiashi spat.

"S-so... that's it, huh?"

Hiashi spun around. His thin lips twisted into a snarl when he saw the blonde boy rise to his feet again.

"Th-that's... why you h-have the... seal," he said, grunting with exertion as he struggled to stand. His whole body shuddered, threatening to collapse at any moment. But still he lifted his head to stare defiantly at the Hyuuga Lord. "You sick... selfish... piece of... trash!" Though every movement was painful, he stood himself straight. "What kind of... person... would do that... to his own... family?" Once more he balled his fists and lifted them toward the Hyuuga head. "I'll never... let you do that... to... Hinata!"

The girl listened to his words in silent shock. 'No, Naruto... you don't have to do this for me.'

"I have had enough of you, Naruto Uzumaki!" the Hyuuga Lord declared. "No worthless orphan child of an unknown house shall defy my will!" Planting his feet, Hiashi spread his arms out to his sides. "I will end this, here and now!"

The assembled Hyuuga watched on in awe as their lord prepared to use one of the most devastating techniques possessed by the main branch.

The girl knew all too well what was coming, but was powerless to stop it.

"Eight Trigrams..." With blinding speed, he launched himself toward the boy. "Two palms!"

The girl silently gasped as the first pair of strikes connected.

"Four palms!"

'...No...' She watched the boy reel as he was hit again.

"Eight palms!"

'...Don't...' She looked on in horror as the barrage continued.

"Sixteen palms!"

'...Please...' She winced in fear as each blow struck home.

"Thirty-two palms!"

'...Stop...' The speed was incredible, but she saw every movement as clear as dawn. She could see the boy's already shredded chakra network collapsing under the onslaught.

"Sixty-four palms!"

'...Father, please...!' A single tear ran down her cheek as the murderous flurry of strikes bore into his body. Through the sparks and rippling white haze, she could see the tiny focused bursts of chakra from her father's fingertips. Each one stabbed through the boy's skin and burnt its way down his chakra pathways. Like tiny bolts of lighting, they arced through his body toward his fragile heart. The flickering blue flame of his chakra well seemed to grow weaker with each blow.

She tried to close her eyes to block out the terrible sight, but still her body refused to obey her commands. She wished it was all just a horrible dream, but she couldn't make herself wake up. The boy she admired – the boy she dreamed of – the boy she loved – was having the life torn out of him, piece by piece, as she watched helplessly from the side. He was dying by the hands of her own father. And it seemed his torture had only just begun.

"One-Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"

'...NO...!' She screamed inside her mind as the merciless assault continued. She felt trapped, like she was buried alive inside her own body. With all her force of will, she desperately reached out to her frozen limbs, begging them to move. But all she could feel was the tickle of teardrops running down her cheeks.

She could see the power flowing through her father's chakra network. The glowing coils snaking their way around his body. The white haze in front of her eyes intensified, blocking out all else but the man and the boy. Her father's movements were like liquid fire. Sparks of light danced across his skin, and with every strike came a blinding flash.

The boy was utterly helpless before the relentless barrage. His battered and broken body was being torn apart from the inside. All his formidable strength had already been stripped away. She could see the spark of his life flickering. He was dying.

And still Hiashi was not done.

"TWO-HUNDRED FIFTY-SIX PALMS!"

"...no..."

The bloodied form of a young man slid across the polished wooden floor and crashed against the wall. Silence descended upon the scene, broken only by the sound of laboured breathing.

Lord Hiashi Hyuuga stood bent over. His hands hung limp at his sides, sleeves torn to shreds. Sweat dripped from his forehead onto the polished wooden floor.

The assembled Hyuuga branch members stood by, frozen in fear. Not one of them spoke a word. All of them trembled at the power displayed by their lord.

Hiashi drew himself back up to full height. With one last deep breath, he turned toward his father who stood watching him impassively. He alone seemed unimpressed by Hiashi's power. The two locked eyes for a moment before the Hyuuga lord turned to the branch members. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when an impossible sound reached his ears.

The faint groan echoed throughout the wide open hall. All eyes turned to the crumpled form of the boy. Blood flowed from his mouth, his nose, his ears, his eyes, and from countless points on his body. But slowly he began to move. The branch members stood gaping as the young man pushed himself to his knees. He coughed weakly and more blood stained the floor. Shaking uncontrollably, his hands came together and formed a sign.

"No!" Hiashi growled through his teeth. He remembered, all too well, the battle that had taken place three years ago between that boy and his own nephew. He had seen the boy unleash that terrible power, and he knew exactly where it had come from. "I won't let it happen," he whispered under his breath. "Not in my house." Clasping his own hands together, he began making signs.

The elderly Hyuuga's pale eyes widened. "Hiashi, what do you think you're doing?" he demanded, taking a step toward him.

"Stay out of my way, Father," the Hyuuga lord insisted. "This must be done, now!" The signs complete, he held out his hand and closed his eyes in focus.

"Forbidden jutsu: Soul Sever Palm!"

The girl watched on in horror. She could see the chakra coiling into her father's open hand. Through the white haze in front of her eyes, it appeared as a cluster of black sparks. She could see it already beginning to eat away at the chakra network in his fingers, and somehow she knew exactly what it would do to the young man it was intended for.

Hinata looked over to him. He shuddered, his body convulsed violently. With a fit of coughing, his blood splattered on the polished floor again. He fell back against the wall, his hands falling to his sides. He was defenceless. His life was already ebbing away, but still her father readied himself to charge.

'...He's going to die...! No... I can't watch this happen...!' The rippling white haze in front of her eyes grew thicker. '...He's going to die... because he wanted to protect me...' She watched her father throw himself toward the boy. '...He's going to die... by my father's own hand...' The world appeared to move in slow motion as he crossed the distance. '...He's going to die... and I never told him... that I love him...'

* * *

A flare of pure, burning, blinding white covered her eyes. For an endless moment she saw nothing. The girl floated alone in the void of all consuming light that enveloped her. Sorrow and helplessness overwhelmed her fragile spirit. Her soul cried.

'What do I do?' she asked the emptiness. 'I have to save him. How can I save him?'

_"Time marches on, but the hearts of men shall never change. They fill their heads with lies that they themselves have conjured, and think themselves so wise for it. They embrace foolishness to try and free themselves from the burden of truth, but this 'freedom' that they crave will bring them only misery and death."_

'Why do I have to be so weak?' she screamed in silence. 'Why can't I be strong enough to do something, just this once?'

_"They desire to make gods of themselves, so they seek a power that they foolishly believe they can master. But their arrogance will lead to their destruction, and all the world shall suffer for their mistake."_

'Please, somebody help him,' she called to the void. 'Don't let him die.'

_"I wait in vain for one whose heart is not closed to me – one who will accept the burden of truth. But all those who could hear me have closed their hearts. They lust after power, and have no interest in peace."_

'He doesn't deserve to die,' she silently cried. 'I would do anything to save him.'

_"Wait... what is this? A heart speaks to me – one that does not seek power for its own ends."_

'He came here to save me,' her heart sobbed. 'He was only trying to protect me.'

_"Yes, I see that you have been touched by the beast, the instrument of destruction. Its mark is upon you, and your soul bears the scars of its passing. You have borne witness to the true depths of its hatred. And yet it has not consumed you."_

'Father, please don't hurt him,' she begged in earnest. 'I'm so sorry. It's my fault for being too weak.'

_"Yes, you are descended from the firstborn. You bear his eyes, but you are not tainted by his prideful spirit. So long have I waited for another to arise. Could it be...?"_

'Please take my life instead, Father,' she offered in desperation. 'It wouldn't matter if I died, as long as it was for him.'

_"I see in you a heart that longs for peace – a heart that breaks for those who suffer – a heart that wishes only to serve. Yes, you do indeed have the potential. _

'Why won't anyone help me?' she cried out in defeat. 'I can't do anything on my own.'

_"You may not yet be ready to bear the full weight of this burden – your body is weak, and your spirit still reels from the overwhelming force of its hatred – but I will not abandon you."_

'I'm all alone,' she cried in despair. 'Why do I always have to be so alone?'

_"Fear not, child. You have called to me, and I have heard you. Though you will suffer for it greatly, I will give you a glimpse of my power."_

'What? Who's there?'

* * *

In a heartbeat, Hiashi covered the last few feet between himself and the broken young man. He lunged forward, thrusting the crackling energies of the Soul Sever Palm at the boy's already failing heart. But before he could make the final, fatal blow, a sudden unexpected force, like the clap of silent thunder, burst through the hall. The Hyuuga lord's body came to a shuddering halt, stopped cold by the massive flare of energy radiating from the figure that had appeared between him and the boy.

Hiashi stared in bewilderment at the person that stood in front of him. A shimmering haze of liquid light enveloped her, but there was no mistaking who it was. He looked down at his hand and saw hers in front of it, the crackling energies of the Soul Sever Palm held between them. How could she have just appeared in front of him so suddenly? He'd never seen her move! And what was this near-palpable energy surrounding her? A terrible feeling gripped his heart, and he lifted his gaze toward the eyes of his daughter.

Two pairs of pale eyes met. Slowly the colour drained from the Hyuuga lord's face. His mouth hung open and his expression of surprise turned to fear, then terror.

Murmurs of astonishment and confusion came from the assembled branch members. The elderly Hyuuga in front of them gripped at his chest. "Impossible!" he breathed.

Hiashi threw back his head, and a scream of agony broke from his lips. He collapsed to the floor, clawing at his arm. His cries of anguish continued as dark lines tore their way through his flesh, all the way up to his shoulder. The skin on his arm turned ashen white, then a dull, sickly grey. He shuddered in pain, writhing on the floor, choking and gasping for breath. With one last tortured cry, his grip on his arm slackened, his eyes closed, and he fell limp.

For a moment all was silent. The girl stood over him like a statue. She stared into nothing for a few moments, her face serene. Slowly she lowered her hand to her side and the faint halo of light around her faded. Then her whole body seemed to suddenly grow weak. Her head drooped and her knees buckled. With the last of her strength she turned to face the boy. He lay slumped against the wall, his eyes shut. Falling to her knees in front of him, she lifted a shaking hand.

"Naruto..." she whispered, as her fingers gently brushed his whiskered cheek.

Two women and a pink haired girl burst through the doors of the hall, followed closely by a team of medics. They arrived just in time to see the girl collapse and fall forward into the boy's chest.

* * *

_"Rest now, child. I shall be watching and waiting until you are ready to bear my burden. I lament for the suffering you must endure, but endure you shall."_

* * *

Authors Notes:

Hmm... gettin freaky.

Hope you're all very confused by this new turn of events. Wild speculation is welcome. Just don't expect me to give out any answers just yet. Oh, what big plans I have in store. Maybe some day I'll even turn those plans into actual chapters... We can all dream.

To be honest, I'm not doing any real work on later chapters at the moment. I'm far too busy working on something else. No, it won't be posted here. I'm not even sure if I want to tell you what it is.

Ooh, secrets...

I'll keep posting chapters at two per week until I reach the end of this volume. After that I may have to slow things down to one per week, depending on whether or not I've started working on it again. In any case, I hope this tides you over for the next few days.


	24. Aftermath

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 24: Aftermath

The Hokage put her elbows on her desk, held her head in her hands, and sighed. "This could hardly have happened at a worse time."

Kakashi leaned against a windowsill, hands in his pockets. "Hmm..." he offered in agreement, looking at the floor. Normally he would have been reading his favourite novel, but for once he wasn't in the mood. "So what are you going to do?"

Tsunade didn't answer. She just stared sorrowfully at her desk, rubbing her temples in a feeble attempt to fight off the headache that was rapidly setting in. The room remained silent. Neither of them could see a way to fix their newest problem.

Then a presence outside drew their attention.

"Hey there. Why so glum?"

The two of them turned to look at the white haired Sannin, both bearing weary expressions.

Jiraiya looked back at them with some apprehension. "What? Not even a 'hey there, Jiraiya, good to see you back, find out anything interesting?' What did I miss?"

Tsunade sat back in her chair and motioned for him to come in. "Just tell us what you found," she replied wearily.

"Okay then." Jiraiya shrugged, climbed in the window and took a seat. "It looks like you could do with some good news, so I'll start with the Akatsuki. It seems that they've slowed down their plans."

Tsunade and Kakashi both looked up at him with a bit more interest.

"Since we managed to take down Hidan and Kakuzu, they seem to have stopped chasing the tailed beasts," Jiraiya announced.

"Any idea why?" asked Kakashi.

"Can't be sure," he answered with a lazy shrug. "Perhaps they're just trying to regroup. Or maybe they don't have the manpower to draw the beasts out of their hosts anymore. I'm still not exactly sure of how they're doing it, but it probably takes more than one of them to perform the ritual, possibly several of them."

"Hmm..." Tsunade furrowed her brows in thought. "Well then, perhaps we have a little breathing room, though we can't expect it to last."

"In any case, they're keeping to themselves for the time being," Jiraiya continued. "I'll do my best to keep a close watch on them, of course."

Tsunade nodded, then raised a cold-eyed stare to her old partner. "And what about Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya's expression hardened, matching the Hokage's. "I'm afraid the news about him is not so good. The Sound Village seems to have recovered a lot quicker than we would have expected. Their rate of activity is surprising. Considering how much they've been involved in the Land of Water, along with all their actions on the mainland, their numbers must be much higher than anticipated."

"Damn it," Tsunade cursed under her breath. "And in about two years, they'll only be stronger."

"So how's it going on our end?" Jiraiya asked.

"We've had ANBU squads infiltrate the Land of Water," Tsunade answered. "Like you said, Kakashi, they still don't have complete control. But that won't last much longer. We're doing everything we can to slow them down, but we can't risk any direct, large scale action at the moment. We're already stretched too thin."

Jiraiya leaned back in his chair. "My informants have noticed an unusually large flow of money within certain underground circles. There's a suspicion that several small time crooks are being funded by an unknown benefactor. It's possible that either Orochimaru or the new Mizukage are using them to stir up trouble in order to cause more problems for us. They're bankrolling small time gangs and criminal syndicates so that we'll have our hands full with them and won't have enough forces left to slow down their invasion plans. Or at least that's the theory."

"And I'm about to lose two more of my shinobi," the Hokage muttered under her breath.

Jiraiya gave her a questioning look. "What do you mean 'two more'? What's going on?"

"I think you'd better see this for yourself," Tsunade answered, getting up out of her chair. "We've just gotten ourselves a new problem."

* * *

"Damn, kid," Jiraiya said under his breath when he saw the state his young student was in, "you really need to get yourself a new hobby."

The three ninja stood around the hospital bed, looking down upon the broken form of the young man. His skin, or what little of it that wasn't obscured by bandages, was pale and waxy. An oxygen mask covered his face. Wires and catheters protruded from his body at all angles. Were it not for the mess of spiky blonde hair, they would have barely recognised him.

"His heart stopped three times before we managed to stabilise him," Tsunade commented sadly. "If we'd been even one minute later..."

"Who the hell did this?" questioned the white haired Sannin.

Tsunade took a moment to collect her thoughts before answering. "Kakashi's team were sent on a rescue mission to support and recover team Kurenai. They'd gotten into trouble with a squad of rogue Cloud ninja. Kakashi can tell you more about that."

The jonin nodded. "We found two of them incapacitated by a powerful poison. The third team member had left them to draw off their pursuers. Sakura stayed behind while Naruto and I went after them – looking to rescue the third team member and find an antidote to the poison. By the time we caught up, she'd been captured. Naruto and I got separated and he ended up engaging the leader of the rogue ninja himself."

"So _he_ did this to him?" Jiraiya asked, somewhat surprised. "Who was this guy?"

"Naoki Shouta, the Wind Reader," Kakashi answered. "He was the one that poisoned the other two team members."

Jiraiya stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I've heard of him – uses a bow – expert in wind style and poison use."

"That's right," Kakashi continued. "Naruto fought him one-on-one. Naoki nearly killed him," he lowered his voice, "even though he was using the power of the Fox."

Jiraiya's head snapped up. "Are you serious? This Wind Reader guy took down the Fox?"

"By the time I got there, the fight was almost over. Naruto had been shot several times. Naoki's poison shut down his chakra network so the Fox couldn't maintain control. I let Naoki go in exchange for the antidote. We managed to keep Naruto alive until we made it back to the village."

"Looks like it was a hell of a fight," Jiraiya exclaimed, staring wide eyed at the boy in the bed.

Tsunade shook her head. "That's only half of the story. He wasn't nearly this bad after his fight with the Cloud ninja. That was just a warm-up compared to what he got yesterday."

The white haired Sannin raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you serious?"

"The girl they rescued from the Cloud ninja was Hinata Hyuuga, eldest daughter of Lord Hiashi Hyuuga," Tsunade explained. "When Kakashi's team brought her back she was in a catatonic state. She was conscious but unresponsive. We believe she saw the Fox unleashed, and the mental stress was too much for her to take." Tsunade began flexing her fingers and frowned angrily at the floor. "When Hiashi came to see her, he was... disappointed. He declared her unfit to be his heir and decided to put that damn caged-bird seal on her." Her clenched fists were shaking by this point. She took a deep breath to steady herself before continuing. "Not long after that, Naruto woke up. Sakura told him what Hiashi was going to do and apparently he blamed himself for her condition."

"Let me guess," Jiraiya said, with a tired frown, "he tried to stop it."

Tsunade sighed and gave an affirmative nod. "Luckily, we found out about his escape. But by the time Shizune, Sakura and I reached the Hyuuga manor, it was almost too late. Naruto and Hiashi were both hanging by a thread, and Hinata wasn't much better off."

"So he broke into the Hyuuga manor and attacked the head of the clan." Jiraiya ran a hand down his face and groaned. "Well now I know why those guys are here," he stuck a thumb toward the pair of ANBU guarding the door. "I take it the Hyuuga aren't too happy about all this."

"You got that right," the Hokage growled. "He's gotten himself into some serious trouble this time."

"So how long do you think it'll be before the kid's back on his feet?" asked the Toad Sage.

Tsunade looked him square in the eye. "Right now he's lucky to be alive. His chakra network has suffered more damage than I thought was possible. He was half dead when he tried to fight Hiashi, now he's more like nine-tenths!" Her expression softened and she looked down on the boy's half covered face. "If it'd been anybody else, he'd be dead, or paralysed for life. But this is Naruto we're talking about." She reached down and gently ran a hand through his hair. "It'll take weeks, maybe months. But he'll recover... I know he will."

There was a moment of quiet before Jiraiya spoke again. "What about Hiashi?"

Tsunade's eyes lingered on the boy for a moment before she turned to the door. "This way."

The white haired Sannin and silver haired jonin followed her down the corridors. Soon they came upon a door guarded by a pair of Hyuuga branch members.

"Stand aside," Tsunade ordered.

The pair of Hyuuga hesitated. All three members of the group noticed the veins around their eyes bulge.

Tsunade glared back at them angrily. "I hope, for your sakes, that you're just making sure we're not imposters."

Both of the Hyuuga looked the Hokage up and down carefully before stepping aside.

Tsunade gave both of them one last vicious scowl before shoving open the door and entering.

The sight that greeted the trio was similar to what they had just seen in the last room. Another body lay in bed, bound up in bandages and coiled with tubes and wires. But there was one injury in particular that caught the Toad Sage's eye.

He looked down at the sickly bluish-grey skin of the man's right arm. "That looks awfully familiar."

Tsunade nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's almost identical to what the Third did to Orochimaru."

"What on earth happened to him? Did Naruto do this?"

"We don't know," the Hokage shrugged. "The only ones that saw it happen were from the Hyuuga clan, and they're not talking. All they'd tell us was something vague about a forbidden jutsu. Whatever it was, it devastated the entire chakra network throughout his right arm, and damaged his heart, too. He's lucky it stopped where it did or he'd be dead for sure."

"So how long before he recovers?" Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade's brow furrowed. "He won't."

Jiraiya was taken aback. "What do you mean? Can't you fix him?"

"I'm afraid not," she replied, shaking her head slowly. "It's hard to believe, but his injuries are even worse than Naruto's. His chakra pathways have been damaged catastrophically. There's almost no chakra flow into his arm at all, but the damage isn't just physical. Technically his arm is still alive, at least in terms of blood flow and cellular activity, but there's something missing. The physical component of his chakra is there, but the spiritual component seems to have completely disappeared. It's as if part of his _soul_ has been burned away. Not even I can heal an injury like that. I'm afraid he's going to be crippled for the rest of his life."

Jiraiya's face hardened. "Then this really is serious. The Hyuuga aren't going to take this lightly. Whatever Naruto did, they're going to want him punished."

"It's more complicated than that. From what little the Hyuuga have told us, it wasn't just Naruto that did this to him."

"You're telling me there's more to this?"

"I'm afraid so."

Again the three left the room and walked down the hospital corridors to another, this one also guarded by ANBU. Inside lay the figure of a dark haired teenage girl. She didn't appear to be quite as injured as the first two, but still her face was obscured by an oxygen mask and her body bore an array of tubes and wires.

"So this is the girl?" asked the Toad Sage.

"Yes, Hiashi's daughter," the Hokage replied. "Her injuries are perhaps the most confusing of all." She brushed aside the hair from her face and indicated the area around her eyes. "She's suffered massive stress to the chakra pathways around her eyes, so much you can see it."

Jiraiya looked carefully at the area she indicated. He could indeed see dark red marks where the telltale bulges would appear whenever a Hyuuga used their byakugan. "Okay, so what does that mean?"

"I can't answer that, either. But I know this didn't happen all at once. Before Hiashi tried to put the seal on her, she was already suffering from severe stress to her chakra pathways from her fight against the Cloud ninja. And what's more, they had been heavily stressed before that. She'd joined a mission with Kakashi's squad a month earlier. I noticed that she'd overworked her eyes then, as well. But what really confuses me is that when she was taken from the hospital by Hiashi she was still in a catatonic state. Yet the Hyuuga claim that she was also involved in the fight with Hiashi."

"Then maybe she did whatever it was to Hiashi's arm," Jiraiya ventured.

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, still trying to hold back her headache. "I don't know," she sighed. "All of the Hyuuga that witnessed the fight are refusing to talk. So until one of these three comes out of it, we won't know anything. But by the looks of things, Hinata won't be waking up for some time, either."

Jiraiya folded his arms and looked at her seriously. "Okay then, just how bad is this mess?"

Tsunade looked back at him with an ominous expression. "Bad enough that I don't want to talk about it here."

* * *

The three retired to the Hokage's private sitting room. Pulling out a bottle of sake, Tsunade and the other two discussed the situation at length.

"The only Hyuuga that's telling us anything is Neji," she said, before knocking back the hot liquid. "He saw part of the fight himself. Though from what he said, it wasn't really much of a fight. Naruto was barely able to walk. Hiashi took him apart like he was a child. Hiashi was about to kill him, then Neji tried to step in and stop it."

"I take it Hiashi didn't react too well to that?" Jiraiya asked, taking a sip from his own cup.

Tsunade glared at the coffee table angrily. "He used that damn seal against him," she spat. "If it wasn't for that seal we wouldn't be in this mess. I can't believe my own grandfather agreed to let them carry on that despicable practice." She glared at the portrait of the First Hokage hanging on the wall. "Fortunately, Neji didn't suffer any permanent damage. But after Hiashi used it on him he blacked out, so he didn't see anything else that happened. Still, he's been telling us everything he can about what's happening among the Hyuuga." She took a deep breath and poured herself another cup. "With Hiashi out of the picture, for the time being, his father, Lord Hiroshi, has taken up leadership of the clan. He was one of the ones that saw the fight."

"And what exactly is he going to do about all this," Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade sighed and hung her head. "According to all the witnesses, it was Naruto who attacked Hiashi first. Even Neji admits that Hiashi gave him more than enough warning." She clenched a fist and squeezed her eyes shut. "But that brat was just too damn stubborn for his own good." Her voice quivered and a hint of moisture appeared at the edge of her eyes. "He attacked Hiashi in his own house, in front of witnesses, and without good reason. If it goes to trial, he'll be found guilty for sure."

A morbid hush descended upon the room, broken only by Tsunade's quiet sobbing. They all understood that the boy had little chance of going unpunished if the case went to trial. If he was indeed found guilty, his sentence would depend on how the Hyuuga viewed the crime.

Jiraiya spoke first. "So... what are they calling it?" he asked apprehensively.

It was Kakashi that answered. "At the very least, it's assault on the head of a noble clan. The best we can hope for is for him to spend the next several years in prison."

Jiraiya looked Kakashi in the eye, knowing he wasn't telling him everything. "But they're not calling it assault, are they?"

Kakashi sighed and lowered his gaze. "No... Considering the circumstances, and Hiashi's injuries... they'll most likely accuse him of attempted murder."

Tsunade buried her head in her hands, struggling to hold back the tears. All of them knew the laws of the village and what the consequences were for such a crime.

Kakashi spoke the dreaded words in a whisper. "If he's found guilty... he'll be executed."

Again, the room fell silent, save for Tsunade's sobbing. For several minutes none of them spoke a word. All of them were close to the boy. All of them cared deeply for him.

Jiraiya's brows furrowed in contemplation. The thought of his student being executed was saddening, infuriating, and frustrating all at once. Then another thought occurred to him and he finally broke the silence. "What about the girl?"

It was Kakashi that answered him again. "That's where things get even more complicated. The Hyuuga are being strangely secretive about her involvement in the fight. Neji didn't see it himself, but from what he heard, it was _her_ that caused the damage to Hiashi's arm."

"So is she being accused of assault as well?" asked the Toad Sage.

"That's what's confusing," Kakashi said. "It appears that the Hyuuga are divided in their opinion for some reason. Some of them seem to think she should be tried along with Naruto. Others demand that Lord Hiroshi put the caged-bird seal on her immediately. But Lord Hiroshi, himself, is refusing to take any action until Hiashi has recovered."

"So he's hiding something from us," Jiraiya concluded, stroking his chin in thought. "If she attacked Hiashi, there's no reason that Hiroshi wouldn't want to have her punished, especially if Hiashi has disowned her. Something else must have happened. It would help if we knew what."

"It doesn't matter." Tsunade sniffed and wiped her face on her sleeve. "Regardless of how she did it, she caused Hiashi's injuries." She lifted her head and looked at them wearily. "I know Hiashi. He won't show her mercy, especially not now. The Hyuuga clan is in a state of unrest. According to our reports, there is talk of a revolt among some of the branch members. There have always been those opposed to the main house and the use of the caged-bird seal. And now it looks like the main house is falling apart. Hiashi is barely clinging to life, Hinata isn't much better off, Hanabi is too young to take power, and Hiroshi is considered too old to maintain his post for much longer."

"Are you saying this could lead to a clan war?" Jiraiya asked.

"That's the worst case scenario," Tsunade answered. "And right now, with an invasion bearing down on us, that is something the village simply cannot afford."

"Hmm..." Kakashi nodded in reluctant agreement. "So what do you think will happen?"

"Like I said, I know Hiashi," she said solemnly. "Right now, the main branch is seen as weak. Hiashi won't stand for that. If he wants to maintain control, he'll be forced to take decisive action. He will have to prove to the branch families that he is still in control. And he'll do it by making an example of anyone who is seen as a threat to him... even a member of his own family."

"You honestly think he'd use his own daughter as a sacrificial lamb?" Kakashi asked in disbelief.

Tsunade's face grew dark. "She will be punished – I have no doubt about that. He may not go so far as to put her on trial for attempted murder – even Hiashi is not that cruel. But even if he does spare Hinata, he won't show the slightest hint of mercy toward Naruto. He can't afford to, not with the branch houses watching. He will demand the death penalty, nothing less."

"So what are you going to do?" Jiraiya asked.

"What can I do?" she shrugged, her face melting with sadness. "As Hokage, I must uphold the law. I have to do whatever it takes to maintain the strength and unity of the village." She let out a fresh wave of tears. "There's nothing I can do."

Her weeping was interrupted by an amused snort. "So the _Hokage_ can't do anything," a smirk spread its way across the Toad Sage's face, "but what is _Tsunade_ going to do?"

The tears stopped flowing. Slowly her eyes rose to meet those of her old team mate, and a hint of a smile tugged at the edges of her lips. "You're right," she stated, her face taking on a look of calm and certainty. "I'm not going to let those two be sacrificed because of that bickering clan and their backward ways. There's no way I'm going to let Hiashi use them as a scapegoat just so he can keep a stranglehold on his clan." She clenched her fists and slammed them down hard on the coffee table. "Naruto did what he did to protect his friend. And I'm sure Hinata was thinking the same thing. They should be praised for what they did, not punished. I'm going to do whatever I can to keep them safe."

Jiraiya grinned broadly and chuckled. "Now there's the Tsunade I know. So what's the plan?"

Tsunade stopped to think for a moment. "Hmm... Well whatever happens, we can't let this go to court. But that won't happen until those two are declared fit to stand trial. And as head of the medical corps, that's my decision to make," she said with a satisfied smirk. "We should be able to hold off the trial until Hiashi recovers."

"That'll buy us some time," Kakashi agreed. "But they'll still have to face the music eventually."

"Not if we can get the situation with the Hyuuga clan settled first," Tsunade said. "If the head family can re-establish control, there'll be no need for Hiashi to resort to drastic measures. Then we can work on convincing him to drop the charges."

"Yeah that's great," Jiraiya said sarcastically. "But like you said, he's probably going to regain control by making an example of them."

Tsunade's expression turned serious. "Then we have to make sure he can't get his hands on them."

"How can we do that?" asked Kakashi. "You can't just keep them in the hospital forever."

"I know that," Tsunade nodded in agreement, her face set firm. "And that means our only option is to get them out of the village."

"But you can't just send them on a mission somewhere," Kakashi argued. "Not when they're accused of a crime."

"No, I can't," Tsunade agreed simply.

"Hold on." Jiraiya held up his hands. "Are you saying what I think you are?"

She looked him straight in the eye. "That's right. They have to become missing nin."

Both men blinked at the Hokage in disbelief.

"Are you nuts?" Jiraiya asked, incredulously, "or are you just drunk? Naruto will never agree to that, and you know it. He's not going to abandon this village. What about his dream?"

Tsunade smirked. "Are you forgetting who you're talking to? A few years ago, I was a missing nin, myself. Then one day, a dirty old skirt chaser and a snot nosed brat showed up and told me I was going to be the next Hokage." She chuckled at the memory. "It may not be that easy for him, but his chances will still be a lot better than they would if he ended up in prison!"

The two men took a moment to think about it while Tsunade poured herself another drink.

"Still," Kakashi stroked his mask in thought, "you can't just let those two go running off by themselves. The Hyuuga will try to find them. They'd be lucky to last a month."

"You got that right," Jiraiya agreed. "But if you think this is the only way, I suppose I could..."

"Forget it!" Tsunade cut him off. "You've already messed with that boy's head more than enough," she growled. 'And I hate to think what effect you'd have on that poor innocent girl,' she thought with an inward shudder. "Besides, with Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and the Mist Village causing trouble, I need you around to keep an eye on them."

"Alright then, who?" asked the white haired Sannin.

"Well, whoever it is, they need to be able to control the Fox," Kakashi noted. "There aren't a lot of people who can do that."

"But I can't send any of my own ninja," Tsunade said. "That would essentially be banishment. Those kids have no choice, but I won't force anyone else to share their fate."

"Oh no problem then," Jiraiya said, his sarcastic tone returning. "All we have to do is think of somebody we know and trust who would be willing to take on a pair of wanted criminals; one of which has the most powerful of the tailed beasts sealed inside him and is being chased by an insane group of S classed missing nin, while the other is the rightful heir to one of the most powerful noble clans in the world which is chasing both of them for the attempted murder of their leader. Oh and did I forget to mention that they're both emotionally unstable, hormonally charged teenagers?"

Tsunade frowned at him. "Well I never said it would be easy. But you're right, it is a long list. There aren't many people who could deal with a pair like them."

The Hokage paused for a moment. A slight smile curled the edge of her lips. "Hmm... a pair like them..."

"Did you think of somebody?" Kakashi asked, noticing her expression.

Tsunade continued to smile reminiscently for a moment before responding. "Hmm... no, I don't think so..." She shook her head slowly, her brows furrowing in deep thought.

"Come on, tell us," Jiraiya prodded.

The Hokage just continued to think for a moment before answering the Toad Sage. "Do you remember Master Daichi from the Land of Spices? We met him once, back in the old days, with Sarutobi Sensei."

Jiraiya scratched his chin and thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so. But you're not thinking of sending them to him, are you? I mean he was older than the Third. Shouldn't he be dead by now?"

Kakashi cut in. "Uh sorry, but who is this 'Master Daichi' you're talking about?"

"He was an old friend of the Third Hokage," Tsunade informed him. "He used to run a small private school for gifted or struggling ninja.

"I've never heard of any ninja from the Land of Spices," Kakashi commented.

Tsunade shook her head. "It wasn't like a ninja village. Master Daichi saw the ninja way as a philosophy and an academic pursuit, not as a means of training soldiers. He has some strange ideas, but his skills as a teacher are undeniable."

Jiraiya leant back in his chair and frowned. "Do you really think he'd take those two in?"

The Hokage shrugged. "Master Daichi retired and closed his school a long time ago. I kept in touch with him while I was away from the village, but I haven't heard from him in a few years. I don't know if he'd be willing to take them in, but it'd be worth a try. I think those kids could really benefit from his teachings."

"But most importantly, could he handle the Fox and keep them away from the Hyuuga?" Jiraiya asked. "Would he actually take in a pair of dangerous fugitives?"

"Well I don't know about the Fox," Tsunade answered, "but I don't think we'd have to worry about the Hyuuga issue." She chuckled to herself quietly. "I mean after the last..."

The Hokage trailed off, looking down into her sake cup as though transfixed. "Two teenagers..." she whispered. "...Handle the Fox... Keep them away from the Hyuuga..." She slowly set the cup down and started staring off into nothing. "No, she wouldn't... would she?" A smile crept its way across her lips.

"You've thought of somebody?" Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade nodded slowly. "Maybe... just maybe..." She started giggling to herself. "Oh, it's almost too cruel. But if it actually worked out..."

The Toad Sage frowned. "Would you spill it, already?"

She smiled roguishly. "I think I've got somebody. She'll be a little hard to find, but I know just the right person to track her down." She stood and faced the door. "Shizune, get in here!"

Moments later, the door flung open and Tsunade's assistant entered. "Uh yes, Lady Hokage, what do you need?"

Tsunade grinned at her. "Shizune, I'm sending you on a top secret S ranked mission."

A look of panic leapt onto the woman's face. "S ranked! B-but why me?"

Tsunade grinned even wider and chuckled to herself. "Don't worry, Shizune. I think you're going to like this mission. You're going to track down an old friend of ours."

* * *

Authors Notes:

Sorry about the recap at the start there. At the time I wrote this, I figured it was necessary to remind people of what went on in the previous volume.

Enjoy.


	25. Spark Of Hope

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 25: Spark of hope

"Sakura, where are those intelligence reports?" the Hokage yelled.

The young medical ninja hung her head and sighed. "Just a minute, I've got them right here." She dragged her feet as she carried the stack of documents into the Hokage's office.

"Is this all of them?" Tsunade asked as she searched through the jumbled mass of paper strewn across her desk.

"Um... well..." the pink haired girl looked around the room nervously, trying to avoid the Hokage's gaze. "I-I think so."

Tsunade slapped her forehead and groaned in frustration. "Why didn't you tell me I was so far behind on all this paperwork?"

"But I did tell you," the young woman insisted. "I kept trying to warn you about it, but you always said you had something more important to do."

Now it was Tsunade's turn to avoid eye contact. "Well I didn't think it was this bad." She pushed herself back from her desk and started rubbing her temples. "I can't take much more of this," she sighed. "I need a break. Go get me something to drink, would you?"

Sakura dumped the stack of files on top of another and frowned. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not old enough to buy alcohol!" she growled through her teeth.

Tsunade buried her face in her hands and groaned loudly. "Alright, just see if you can find that duty roster."

Sakura gladly left the room and went back to her temporary station behind Shizune's desk. She slumped into her chair and let her head fall down onto yet another stack of papers. 'How on earth does Shizune handle this?' she wondered. 'She's barely been gone for two weeks and this whole place is falling apart. Where on earth did she go, anyway? Lady Tsunade wouldn't tell me anything.' She sighed once again. 'I just hope she comes back soon.'

A moment later, the sound of footsteps reached her ears. The pink haired girl jerked her head up when she heard the voices of two women talking and laughing as they made their way down the hall toward the Hokage's office.

"So when was the last time you saw Masaru?" one of the women asked the other.

Sakura immediately recognised that voice. For her it was the voice of salvation. She leapt out of her chair and burst through the door into the hallway. "Shizune, you're back!" she exclaimed, practically bursting with happiness and relief. "I'm so glad you're here. It's been a nightmare trying... to..." She trailed off when she noticed the person Shizune was with. "Oh, I uh..."

"Sakura, it's good to see you," Shizune beamed. "Here, I want you to meet someone." She tossed away the dango skewer she'd been chewing on and gestured to her companion. "This is one of my oldest and best friends, Hitomi Haruka. Hitomi, this is Sakura Haruno."

"Oh right," the woman mumbled around a mouthful of dango. She slipped off her rectangular framed sunglasses and gave the pink haired girl a lop-sided smile. "So you're Tsunade's new student, huh? Shizune's told me about you. She says you're quite the young prodigy."

All the pink haired girl could do was nod in response. She stared, dumbstruck, at the woman in front of her. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, about the same age as Shizune. She clearly wasn't a noble or a civilian. She had the figure of a ninja and wore an outfit that only a ninja could get away with. A strange lopsided skirt, split at the sides, hung halfway down her hips over a pair of slim-fitting shorts. She wore a baggy tank top over a tight mesh shirt, and a well worn short sleeved jacket which seemed to be at least one or two sizes too small for her. Her loose fitting sandals also looked well worn, as did the travel bag hung over her shoulder.

But all of that barely even registered to the young ninja. What grabbed her attention the moment she saw the woman was her hair. A flowing mantle of brilliant snow white hair fell around Hitomi's shoulders, hanging down all the way to her knees. Sakura caught herself gawking at it. She could hardly believe it was real. Nobody she knew, not Ino, not even Lady Tsunade could claim to have such a long and gorgeous head of hair. It almost seemed to shine with an inner light. She was so transfixed by it that it took her a while to realise that the woman's face was also breathtakingly beautiful... despite the smear of sticky dango coating that stained her cheek.

"So, it looks like you've been having a little trouble while I've been gone."

Sakura managed to shake herself out of her trance once Shizune's comment registered in her brain. "Oh, uh yeah..." She tore her eyes away from the mysterious woman to look at the piles of documents on the desk. "Uh, things have kinda gotten out of hand. Lady Hokage has been putting off her paperwork, as usual."

"_Lady Hokage_," the snow haired woman repeated with a snort and a light chuckle. "I still can't believe it. I'd never imagine anyone would choose her to be Hokage. I suppose luck isn't one of the prerequisites."

"Oh come on, Hitomi," Shizune said with a giggle of her own. "She taught you half of what you know. You have to admit she's good enough for the job."

"Oh, so you were her student, too?" Sakura asked.

Hitomi looked back at the pink haired girl, her cool-blue eyes smiling. "For a while, yeah. I travelled with her and Shizune for a year or so, when we were younger." Her gaze lingered on the young woman for a while. "Hmm... so all three of us are Tsunade's students, huh? We should get together and have a drink some time. I bet we've all got some juicy stories to share about the old bat," she said with a mischievous smile.

A very flustered Shizune nudged her arm. "Hitomi, don't say that. She'll hear you," the brunette hissed. "Besides, Sakura is a little young to be drinking."

"Oh yeah, the age limit thing." Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Still, that didn't stop us the first time, did it, Shizune?" She grabbed the other woman around the shoulders and leaned in close to her ear. "Remember that time when we were fifteen and we snuck out late one night and went to a bar?"

Shizune paled.

"I didn't think that one little cup would be so bad, but it just went straight to your head, didn't it, Shizu?" Hitomi said, grinning mischievously. "And then you spotted the karaoke machine."

Shizune's face went from ash white to bright red.

The snow haired woman giggled. "Boy, did you attract a lot of attention. Though I'm not sure if it was the singing or that rather... _suggestive_ little dance you were doing."

By now, Shizune was frozen in place, staring straight ahead and quivering. Her head looked like it was getting ready to explode.

"Remind me, what was that guy's name again?" Hitomi asked teasingly. "He seemed to be particularly impressed with your performance. You know you're lucky Tsunade found us when she did, 'cause if you'd shown him any more leg, I'm pretty sure they would've had to arrest him."

Sakura just stood and goggled at the two older women. 'Shizune did _what?_'

The red faced brunette shoved her giggling companion aside. "Hitomi!"

"Okay, okay..." The snow haired woman waved off her furious friend. Then she leaned in Sakura's direction. "I'll tell you the rest later," she whispered behind her hand, though it was more than loud enough for the brunette to hear.

Shizune cleared her throat loudly. "So is she in her office?" she asked, clearly eager to change the subject.

"Oh, y-yes, you can go right in," Sakura answered eventually. Her cheeks almost matched her hair. She couldn't imagine her straight-laced older sister figure acting like that. The candy haired girl could only wonder what else these two women had gotten up to in the past.

"Hmm, I can't believe it's been so long," the snow haired woman mumbled around her dango coated fingers as she tried to lick them clean. "See you around, Pinky."

Sakura blinked. 'Pinky?'

The Hokage looked up from her mountain of paperwork as the door to her office opened. "Did you find that roster Sa..." She stopped in mid sentence when she saw who had entered.

"Good afternoon, _Lady Hokage,_" Hitomi said with a stifled giggle and a mocking salute.

Tsunade slowly rose out of her chair, her amber eyes locked on the smirking figure. She marched around the desk and squared off in front of her. Both women looked each other up and down for a few tense moments.

Hitomi slipped her bag off her shoulder and tossed it against the wall without breaking Tsunade's stare. A cocky smirk was spread wide across her face.

Hands on her hips, Tsunade took a few slow, deliberate steps forward. "Hitomi Haruka, you've been keeping your little secret from me for long enough."

Hitomi twirled a strand of snowy hair around her finger and looked up at the ceiling. "Why, Lady Hokage, whatever do you mean?" she asked in mock innocence.

The blonde was clearly unimpressed. She leaned in close to her face and scowled. "Spill it!" she ordered.

Hitomi folded her arms and snorted. "Not a chance," she said, still smirking arrogantly.

Tsunade fixed the younger woman with her most venomous stare – a stare that had been known to shake the hearts of even the stoutest shinobi. "I'm going to get it out of you, Hitomi, one way or another," she hissed.

Hitomi stared back without flinching. "You already know my price."

Sakura hovered outside the room, peeking around the doorframe fearfully. She could feel the tension building between the two women. The pink haired girl knew the Hokage well. She only ever got this serious in a true life or death situation. What secret could this mysterious woman be holding, she wondered.

Tsunade's nose wrinkled and she growled through her teeth, "Mark my words, Hitomi Haruka. I will have your secret hair cream recipe."

Sakura's jaw dropped. 'Her _what_ recipe?'

Hitomi Haruka ran a hand through her radiant, silken hair and grinned. "Two million ryou and it's all yours, Sensei."

Both women burst out laughing and embraced each other warmly.

"Oh, Hitomi, it's been far too long," the Hokage sighed.

"I missed you, Sensei," Hitomi replied with a giggle.

Tsunade held her at arm's length and looked her up and down. "My my, you've certainly grown up, haven't you? You look more beautiful than ever."

Hitomi gave her a cheeky sideways look. "And you look older."

Tsunade glared at her indignantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hitomi laughed again. "Don't you remember? The last time we were together, you were disguising yourself as a teenager, the same age as Shizune and me."

Tsunade hung her head and chuckled. "That's right. I'd forgotten about that. The three of us sure attracted a lot of attention, didn't we?" She turned to her assistant. "Good to have you back, Shizune. I'm afraid things have gotten a little messy around here."

Shizune was staring in horror at the vast piles of paperwork strewn across the Hokage's desk. "I can see that," she replied shakily.

"Well I hate to ruin the moment," Tsunade said, "but I didn't call you here just for a friendly visit, Hitomi. I need to talk to you in private." She looked at the other two women in the room. "You two have got a lot of work to catch up on."

Sakura and Shizune both sighed in unison. The pink haired girl shuffled her way out of the office, waited for Shizune to follow, and took one last look at the mysterious woman before closing the door.

'Who is she?' the young med ninja wondered. 'And what's so important that she sent Shizune on a two week trip to find her?'

Tsunade sat back down behind her desk. "Alright, let's get down to business. First of all, how much do you know about the current political situation?"

Hitomi took a seat opposite her. "You mean the Land of Water? Well from what I've heard, it was a coup d'état and the new Feudal Lord is just a puppet of the Mizukage. There's also a lot of rumours floating around that he's beginning a major build-up of the nation's military."

"You're well informed," Tsunade noted. "Now here's what you don't know. The new Mizukage is Satou Chishio, head of the Chishio clan, and the new Feudal Lord is his former student, Kusari Assaiki. They took control of the Land of Water in a coup d'état, as you said, but they weren't working alone." Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "They were aided in their takeover by the Sound Village."

"You mean your old team mate?" Hitomi asked, her voice low.

Tsunade nodded, glaring at her balled fists. "Orochimaru," she spat the name disgustedly. "He formed an alliance with Satou and helped him wrest control of the Land of Water. And now they're preparing for an invasion."

Hitomi's brow wrinkled into a frown. "So I guess you've got your hands full, huh?"

Tsunade gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "You have no idea. An impending war is only our latest problem." She leaned back in her chair and sighed. "We're in trouble, Hitomi. The truth is this village was already stretched to its limits. Now it looks like we're going to get dragged into a war that we may not be able to win."

"I'm guessing that's got something to do with why I'm here, yes?" Hitomi asked, while trying to remove the recently discovered dango stain on her cheek.

"Well I'm not going to ask you to fight for us, but I do need your help." Tsunade caught her eye. "I've got a problem – something I can't deal with myself. I need a favour... a _big_ favour."

Hitomi laughed. "Come on, Sensei. You know I'd do anything for you. There's no way I could ever pay you back."

Tsunade chuckled dryly and shook her head. "Oh believe me, after this I'll owe _you_ big time."

Just then, both women turned when a figure landed on the roof outside.

The Toad Sage stepped through the window, interrupting their conversation. "Okay, Tsunade, I did what you asked, but I..." The massive Sannin stopped mid sentence when he caught sight of the other woman in the room. "Whoa-ho-ho!" he exclaimed, his jaw dropping to the floor. "My my, where did you come from, little lady?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm sure I haven't seen you around here before."

"Jiraiya!" Tsunade growled menacingly.

"Jiraiya?" Hitomi regarded the lecherous old man with a sultry smile. "Don't tell me this is another of the legendary Sannin?" she asked in fascinated surprise.

"Well well, it looks like my reputation precedes me," Jiraiya said, sliding toward her. The perverted hermit looked her up and down, practically drooling. "So you've heard of me, huh – Jiraiya the wise and powerful Toad Mountain Sage?"

"Why of course," Hitomi replied. The blue eyed beauty rose from her seat, flicking her pure white hair over her shoulders. She sauntered over to the grinning old man, swaying her hips deliberately. "Everyone's heard stories about the legendary Sannin." She looked up at him coyly, licked a dango flavoured finger and ran it down his chest.

The Toad Sage could hardly believe his luck. He giggled to himself like an adolescent school boy and wiggled his fingers at her.

Tsunade could only watch the scene unfolding before her in astonishment.

"I know a lot about you three and your amazing exploits," Hitomi continued as she slipped in even closer to the old pervert, "especially about you, Master Jiraiya."

"Oh really? Then please tell me what you've heard, I'll be happy to fill in any blanks for you," Jiraiya said, draping an arm around her shoulders.

"Hmm, now let me think," Hitomi said, wrinkling her nose and tapping a finger on her chin in thought. "What have I heard about the Sannin? Well, there's Tsunade, the drunken gambler who couldn't hold on to money if you sewed it into her pants," she said innocently.

"What? Hey!" Tsunade shouted in protest, much to Jiraiya's amusement.

"And then there's Orochimaru," Hitomi continued, "the crazy old snake man who wants to destroy the world just because the poor baby didn't get to be Hokage."

Jiraiya snickered, drawing his face closer to hers.

She licked her lips and looked up into the pervert's eyes suggestively. "And then there's you, Master Jiraiya," She lifted a hand and stroked his cheek delicately, "the dirty old man that has to peek at women through a telescope because he can't even get them to talk to him without paying for it."

"Huh?" A look of confusion dropped onto the Toad Sage's face.

"And what was that other thing I heard about you?" Hitomi asked herself, her silken voice dripping with sarcasm. "Ah yes, of course." She smiled as she leaned in close and whispered something in his ear.

Jiraiya's eyes bulged and his jaw fell open like a trap door. He stood frozen in place as Hitomi brushed his hand off her shoulder and stepped aside.

She turned to the Hokage, an innocent smile playing across her lips. "So, what was it you were going to ask me, Sensei?"

Tsunade tried desperately to stifle a laugh. "Follow me. I think I'd better show you."

The two women stepped out of the room, leaving behind the perverted hermit, still frozen in shock.

* * *

The ANBU guards parted at the Hokage's approach and let them enter the room. A young teenager with deep indigo hair lay in the bed, an array of medical equipment surrounding her.

"So what's she gotten herself into?" Hitomi asked with disinterest.

"Take a look for yourself," Tsunade replied. "You should start with her eyes."

Flicking her long white hair over her shoulders, Hitomi bent over the girl to examine her. She paused when she noticed the faint pink lines around her temples. Carefully she opened one of her eyelids. Looking into the pupil-less lavender orb, the woman froze. For a moment she just stared. Hitomi let the girl's eye close and hesitantly brushed aside the deep blue fringe obscuring her forehead. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." The snow haired woman slowly stood herself straight and turned to the Hokage. "Is this girl who I think she is?"

Tsunade nodded solemnly. "She is Hinata Hyuuga, eldest daughter of Lord Hiashi Hyuuga."

"You could have told me earlier, Sensei." Hitomi said, with more than a hint of worry.

"I'll explain everything," Tsunade assured her. "But first you need to take a good look at her injuries."

"I shouldn't even touch her with a ten-foot pole!" Hitomi declared. She was looking at the comatose girl as if she were a nest of vipers. "In fact, I shouldn't even be within a hundred miles of this village. And if Shizune hadn't begged me to come, I wouldn't be."

"It's alright, Hitomi," the Hokage reassured her. "I know you're taking a big risk, and you have my thanks for that. I wouldn't have asked you to come here unless I knew I could keep you safe. Please, just take a closer look at her."

Hitomi stared at the young woman for a moment more. "Okay, Sensei. But only because it's you that's asking."

She took a deep breath and started examining the girl. "Well, I'm seeing massive damage to her chakra pathways, and signs of extreme stress throughout her whole network. But the damage to her ocular pathways is so bad she should have died, or at least been blinded for life!" she said in astonishment. "It's amazing she's recovering at all, but it is happening slowly."

"You haven't seen the worst of it yet." Tsunade indicated the girl's bandaged right hand.

Hitomi looked over it thoroughly. Her ice blue eyes widened. "Yikes! I've never seen anything like this. What the crap happened to this kid?"

Tsunade sighed. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"So this is what you called me here for?" Hitomi asked. "You're not losing your touch, are you, Sensei? I mean this is serious, alright, but she'll make a full recovery with your treatments. I don't see what you need me for."

"I'd appreciate any help you could give in healing her injuries – this kind of thing is your speciality, after all – but that's not why I wanted you to come here." Tsunade looked at her former student seriously. "Her wounds are the least of this girl's troubles."

Hitomi planted her hands on her hips. "Okay, spill it. What's going on here, Sensei?"

Tsunade took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Alright..."

Hitomi listened as Tsunade explained the situation with Hinata and the Hyuuga clan, as she understood it. The Hokage recounted everything, from Hiashi taking her from the hospital to the current unrest within the clan.

Hitomi furrowed her brows in thought as Tsunade finished her explanation. "So her and this... _boy_ attacked her father. And now you expect him to demand his blood, and perhaps hers as well, in order to make an example," Hitomi summarised.

"That's about it," Tsunade nodded.

"That still doesn't explain why I'm here."

Tsunade sighed once again. "I can't let Hiashi use her as a scapegoat. I need to get her out of the village for some time, at least until things calm down."

Realisation dawned, and Hitomi stared at her old teacher in disbelief. "Oh, you are not serious."

Tsunade looked the woman in the eye. "I can't send any of my own ninja. And she wouldn't last five minutes out there alone. I need somebody I can trust, that can keep her hidden and out of trouble."

"You want me... _me..._ to run off with the heir to the Hyuuga clan?"

Tsunade just nodded.

"You haven't forgotten about," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "my family, have you?"

"Why do you think I chose you?" Tsunade replied simply. "You've been keeping yourselves hidden from the Hyuuga for decades. I doubt they even know that your family exists anymore."

"And that's the way we'd like to keep it," Hitomi said sharply. "I mean it's not like I'm all that close to them, but still. If they ever found out I've been anywhere near the eldest daughter of the Hyuuga clan leader, or even this _village_..." She rolled her eyes and shook her head slowly. "I mean, _Hell_, I'm on thin ice with them as it is!"

Tsunade smirked. "That's strange. You never seemed to care what they thought before."

Hitomi sighed heavily and looked back to the girl lying in the hospital bed. A hint of sadness tugged at her features. "So what do you think they'll do to her?"

"I don't know," Tsunade replied solemnly. "At the very least, they'll put that damn seal on her. Other than that, she could be tried and put in prison for years. And if she's not, her father will probably keep her locked up in her own home, instead."

Hitomi's face twisted into a scowl. "Damn them," she whispered harshly, "just like they've always been..."

For a moment there was silence. Hitomi closed her eyes tight in contemplation, flexing her fingers angrily. "Well," she said at last, "I said I'd do anything for you, Sensei, and I'll stick to that."

"Wait," Tsunade held up a hand to stop her from going any further. "You only know half the story. I can't let you make a decision yet."

"You're saying there's more?" she groaned, more apprehensive than ever.

"This is something else that you have to see."

Tsunade led her out of the room, down the corridor and into another room guarded by ANBU.

"So this is the '_big hero'_, huh?" Hitomi said dryly, looking down at the blonde haired boy. "What's his story?"

Tsunade stepped over to the side of his bed and lifted his shirt. She ran through a few hand signs and traced a spiral across his stomach. "Take a look," she said quietly.

Hitomi leaned in close and stared intently at the design that appeared before her cool-blue eyes. "Amazing!" she breathed as she ran her hands over the symbols. "A double tetragram seal reinforced with an eight sign seal. This is the most powerful sealing jutsu I've ever seen! What could possibly require..." She paused for a moment, and then pulled her hand away as though she'd been burned.

Hitomi straightened and looked the Hokage square in the eye. "How old is this boy?"

Tsunade looked back, her face blank. "Fifteen."

"He wouldn't happen to have been born in October, would he?"

"October the tenth."

Hitomi slowly turned her gaze back to the seal, then to the whisker marks on the boy's face. "The Nine Tails," she breathed, her voice quivering.

"That's right," Tsunade said solemnly. "This boy has been keeping the world safe from that monster since the day he was born." She reached down and gently ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. "He's carrying a burden greater than any I could imagine, and I've never once heard him complain." Her face betrayed a mixture of anger and sadness. "I can't let them hurt him."

"I think I can see where you're going with this, Sensei," Hitomi said, her face paling, "and I'm not sure I like it."

"I told you it was going to be a big favour."

The snow haired woman groaned. "I'm guessing there's a whole lot more I need to know."

"Yes," Tsunade agreed, sighing heavily. "I'll give you all the details. First of all, have you ever heard of the Akatsuki?"

For well over two hours the women sat in the small hospital room, disturbed only by the beeping of the boy's heart monitor. By the time the Hokage was finished, the sun was beginning to redden the sky outside.

"Wow, this punk sure has a lot of troubles," Hitomi commented. "And now you want _me_ to keep the two of them away from all these people that are after their blood?"

"I know it's a lot to ask," Tsunade said.

"You aren't kidding." She leaned back in her chair and frowned over at the unconscious young man. "Look, if you really need me to, I guess I could take the girl off your hands. But the boy..."

"No deal," Tsunade cut her off before she could finish. "You either take both of them together, or I find somebody else to look after them."

Hitomi frowned at her old teacher. "Why?"

Tsunade avoided eye contact. "I have my reasons."

Hitomi studied her sensei's face suspiciously. "Wait a minute! Those two aren't... _'involved'_, are they?"

Tsunade allowed herself a light chuckle. "No, don't worry about that. He's got a crush on my student, Sakura."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Pinky? And how does she feel about all this?"

"She doesn't know yet," Tsunade answered wearily. "I'm not sure how she'd take it. Sakura doesn't exactly share his feelings, but they're still close."

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Well at least he won't be leaving a girlfriend behind. I don't think I could stand dealing with a love-sick teenager," she said with a shudder. Then her expression turned serious. She looked at the Hokage squarely. "Are you sure this is a good idea, making them run off like this?"

Tsunade took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "His teachers and I both agreed. They can't stay in the village. We've got to get them out of here as soon as we can." She stood and looked out at the setting sun. "But I don't expect you to make a decision right away. They won't be going anywhere for a while yet. For now, I'm just going to ask you to stay in the village until they're well enough to leave. After all, they're the ones that are going to pay for this, whether they leave or stay. They should be allowed to make their own choice."

"Well, I can't say I'm keen to stick around," Hitomi said, "but since I'm already here, I guess I wouldn't mind spending some time catching up with you and Shizune."

Tsunade gave her a smile. "Thank you, Hitomi." She started making her way to the door. "Now come on, let's grab Shizune and go find something to drink."

"Oh Hell yes! I think we all need to get drunk immediately," Hitomi said with that mischievous smile of hers, "just as long as you're paying, of course."

Tsunade laughed. "Alright," she leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "but you just have to tell me what it was you said to that old pervert."

* * *

Authors Notes:

So here's the first appearance of my OC, Hitomi Haruka. I'm interested to hear what you guys think of her. In the original version, her character was a bit of a mess. I hadn't planned out her personality and background very well before I introduced her. As such, I made quite a few changes to her during my edit. The original version on dA recieved mixed reviews regarding Hitomi's character. Some readers liked her, others hated her guts with a vengeance. I changed her personality to make her more consistent and less generic, but reviews have been sparse since then. Most of all I want to hear the oppinions of people who haven't read the later, unedited chapters on dA. From reading only these edited chapters, what do you think of Hitomi? You may want to wait until I've posted a few more, but if you have anything to say, please review.


	26. The Lingering Fear

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 26: The lingering fear

The sound of distant, muffled voices tugged at the boy's consciousness. Groggily he opened his eyes to see blurred faces surrounded by a fuzzy white haze. He tried to strain his ears to make out what they said, tried to focus his eyes to see who they were. But he felt so tired. The pull of unconsciousness was too strong and he drifted off again.

Was it moments later, or hours, or days? He couldn't tell. The voices came back to him again and this time along with them came feeling. He tried to speak, but only managed a slight groan. He heard one of the voices respond, but still couldn't make out the words. With all the force of will he could muster he pried open his eyes. A pink blur filled his vision followed by a yellow one.

"...Naruto... Naruto..."

He recognised his name from among their muffled words, though he wasn't sure which one was speaking.

He tried to push his breath past his lips. "...S-Sa-ku-ra... G-Grand-ma..."

He thought he could make out smiles on their faces. Something warm squeezed his hand, and with a little effort he managed to squeeze back just a little. But something wasn't quite right. He had the feeling somebody else should have been there. He tried to think of who it was, but his mind and body were exhausted. His eyelids fell and sleep took him over once more.

The warmth of sunlight touched his face, awakening him from the dreamless void. His body was stiff and heavy. He felt the presence of somebody next to him and managed to pry open his eyes to see. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the light and he recognised the familiar face of his so called 'Grandma'. He groaned quietly, enough to get her attention.

She quickly put the clipboard aside and moved closer to him. "Naruto, can you hear me?"

"Uh... yeah..." he managed to croak. His mouth was dry and his head felt like it was packed with cotton wool. The boy inhaled deeply and tried to blink the fuzziness out of his eyes. "Where am I?" he managed to whisper.

"Back in the hospital, as usual," Tsunade answered with a slight smile.

"Hospital..." he repeated, his mind slowly processing the word. The boy vaguely remembered something about the hospital. He'd been here not long ago, but he'd left because there was something he had to do. What was so important? It came back to him in a flood. "Hinata!" He tried to lift his head, but it felt like it weighed a ton.

"Not a chance," Tsunade said, pushing him back down into the pillow. "You're not going anywhere this time."

"Grandma, where is she? What happened?" he asked, fear and worry evident in his tired voice.

"It's alright. She's here in the hospital. She'll be fine," the Hokage answered reassuringly.

The boy looked up at her, noticing a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Her father... he didn't... Did he?"

A smile tugged at her lips all too briefly. "No."

Relief washed over him and he let his head sink back into the pillow. 'She's safe. I stopped it,' he thought. But then the boy remembered who was standing next to him. 'Oh crud, Grandma's gonna kill me!' Fearfully he peeked up at her, expecting a fist to come crashing down on his scull at any moment. But instead she just looked back at him, a kind but sad smile barely stretching her lips. The boy swallowed hard. "Uh… G-Grandma… I'm sorry." He recoiled slightly, waiting for the blow to come.

But Tsunade just smiled a little wider and looked off out the window. "Yeah, you'd better be," she said softly.

'Huh?' The boy squinted up at her in puzzlement. She didn't seem angry with him at all.

The Hokage just looked out the window at nothing in particular and sighed. Sunlight streamed through the wispy clouds, picking out a glint of moisture in her amber eyes. "Alright then," she said as she turned back to face him, "do you think you could tell me what happened?"

It took a moment for her question to register. "Uh, yeah I guess so." The boy couldn't figure out why she seemed so quiet and calm. Normally she would be shouting and getting angry at him for calling her Grandma, but she didn't even seem to notice. Wasn't she going to lecture him for breaking out of the hospital and getting into a fight?

Tsunade adjusted his bed to bring him into a sitting position and pulled over a chair for herself. "Okay, we'll start with your mission to rescue team Kurenai. What happened when you left Kakashi behind?"

The boy's eyes darkened. He remembered that night all too well. For a while he just looked at his sheets while Tsunade waited patiently for him to speak. He wanted to forget that whole night, like it was just some horrible nightmare. He could still see her face – hear her scream – feel her terror.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before finally starting to talk. "I was running to the top of this hill – that's where Pakkun said she was." His voice was low and shaky. "I knew she was hurt, 'cause we'd found some of her blood on the ground, back where she'd tried to fight the Cloud ninja. I was afraid they were hurting her." He squeezed his eyes shut, his lower lip trembling. "Then I got to the top and there were all these old ruined buildings. I saw light from a fire, so I just ran straight toward it and... and there she was." The boy's voice started to crack and moisture built up around his eyelids. "She was chained to a stone slab, and there was some freak standing over her. His whole body was covered with scars; they made him look like some kind of... monster." A single tear burned its way down the side of his face. The boy gritted his teeth. His shoulders began to shake. "He had a knife... it was glowing, red hot... and... she was screaming!"

For a moment, the Hokage just let the boy weep. She'd had no idea that the Cloud ninja had tried to torture her. Now she understood even better why the experience had been so devastating for the girl.

Naruto looked up at her with tear filled eyes. "I wanted to kill him, Grandma," he said in a quivering whisper. "I never wanted to kill someone so much in my whole life. But not just kill him. I wanted to make him... _suffer_." He turned his face away, wishing she wouldn't look at him and see what a horrible person he was inside. "Then I just... let it go." He tried to choke back the bitter tears, but failed. "I let that thing out of me again."

Tsunade placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's alright, Naruto," she whispered to him in a calm, soothing voice. "You saved her. And that Cloud ninja certainly deserved what he got."

The boy shook his head weakly, still not wanting to look at her. "I didn't save her," he choked out between sobs. "I hurt her more than anyone else."

"Don't say that, Naruto. You can't blame yourself like that," Tsunade tried to reassure him. "Seeing the power of the Fox might have scared her, but that was only part of it."

"You don't understand," the boy whispered, his eyes shut tight against the flood of tears. "She didn't just see the Fox on the outside. She saw it on the inside."

Tsunade blinked in confusion. "_'Inside'_? What do you mean?"

The boy sniffed back another wave of tears. "I don't know how, but when the Fox had control of me, I saw her in my mind, in the place where I see the Fox behind his cage. She was there. She saw the real thing. Not just the little bit that leaks out, but the whole monster."

Tsunade's mouth fell open. Seeing the Nine Tails face to face – the girl had been through far more than the Hokage had imagined. She wouldn't blame anyone for not being able to cope with that kind of experience.

"She was so afraid," he said, his trembling hands tugging at the sheets. "I heard her screaming. I'd never seen somebody so afraid. I let it out because I wanted to save her, but I ended up hurting her even more." Now the tears were streaming down his face unhindered. "Why do I always have to screw things up?"

For a while Tsunade just let him cry. She could tell he needed to get this out and didn't want to interrupt him with empty words of comfort.

Gradually the boy's macho side took over and he lifted a shaky hand to wipe away the tears. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Then I tried to take control again, and I almost had it. I almost put him back in his prison. But then that other guy showed up."

Tsunade nodded. "The Cloud ninja with the bow – his name is Naoki Shouta."

"Whatever," the boy shrugged. "Just when I almost had it under control, he appeared out of nowhere and shot me full of arrows. I knew I wasn't strong enough to beat him, so I let that _thing_ take over again." He hung his head and sighed. "I don't remember much after that – just pain and anger." He finally lifted his gaze to look at her again. "I just wanted to protect her, Grandma."

"I know," Tsunade replied softly. "I don't blame you for that. You did everything you could to protect your fellow Leaf shinobi. That's what any true ninja would do."

"But I just screwed it all up, didn't I?" he protested. "It's because of me that she ended up 'hiding away in her mind', like Sakura said. It's because of me that her dad wanted to put that damn seal on her!"

"Naruto stop it, please," Tsunade begged him. She leaned in and put her arms around him. "Don't blame yourself for Hiashi's actions. He's the one that decided to do it, not you."

"But then I just had to try and stop it," he said, berating himself further. "And I managed to screw that up, too. I just got beat up even worse, and probably made him even angrier at Hinata." A sudden look of fear washed over his face. "Is he gonna try and put that seal on her again, Grandma? He is, isn't he? He's just gonna try it again when nobody's around to stop him."

Tsunade pulled back and looked away for a moment. She knew he wasn't ready to hear the whole story. He needed more time to rest before being told the full implications of what he had done.

"He will, won't he, Grandma? I know he will."

She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't need to tell him everything, either. "Don't worry. I'll make sure nobody hurts her. As long as she's in this hospital, no Hyuuga will get close to her."

The boy lay back into his pillow with a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Grandma." He yawned softly and his eyelids began to droop. "Hey, do you think I could see her soon?"

Tsunade smiled and shook her head. "I'm afraid it'll be a while yet. She's still recovering from her own injuries." She gave him a stern look. "And you need to rest, yourself. You're not going to have any visitors for a while."

"Aw, Grandma," he whined. But he could feel the pull of sleep beginning to take hold of him already.

"Stop complaining," Tsunade said firmly as she readjusted his bed to lay him down again. "You'll get to see her later. And don't even think of getting out of this bed."

The boy tried to protest, but his eyelids were already falling. He drifted off to sleep before she'd even left the room.

* * *

The girl struggled against the nameless terror. She fought for escape from the enveloping blackness. Something was hiding, deep in the darkest recesses of her mind. She didn't know what it was, only that she was afraid of it, deathly afraid. The memory clawed at the edges of her conscious, threatening to reveal itself again and draw her back into the abyss.

Then, like a drowning swimmer breaking the surface of the water, she awoke. The girl shrieked in fear and sat bolt upright in bed. The terrible nightmare faded almost instantly, but the fear stayed with her.

'Where am I?' she thought in a panic. The girl tried to open her eyes. At first they didn't respond. She forced her heavy eyelids to open by a fraction, but was engulfed by a blinding white light and sharp stabbing pain. She screamed in agony as lances of fire pierced through her temples. The girl gripped her head to try and hold back the pain and felt an intense burning in her right hand. 'What's happening?' she asked herself, the panic rising with each passing moment. She tried to flex the fingers in her right hand, but the burning only intensified. The girl cried out in pain again.

The sound of running footsteps coming toward her pounded in the girl's ears. A door opened and someone burst into the room. She recoiled from the unknown person. Her heart still quaked with fear.

"Hinata, you're awake!" exclaimed a female voice, one that she recognised.

"S-S-Sakura?" the girl stammered, still holding her hands in front of her body protectively.

"Hinata, it's alright. Calm down," the young medical ninja reassured her.

The girl flinched at her touch when Sakura tried to lay her back down onto the bed. "W-what happened? W-where am I?" She shied away from her friend, and curled into herself, whimpering fearfully.

"It's okay. You're in the hospital, back in the village," Sakura assured her. "Don't worry, you're safe."

The words sounded reassuring, but the fear remained and the pain in her eyes did not ebb. "I c-c-can't see. It... it h-hurts."

"Everything will be alright," Sakura told her soothingly. "Just try to calm down. Lay back, you need to relax."

The girl let herself be lowered onto the pillow, but relaxing was impossible. She lay trembling, cradling her bandaged hand against her chest. Every slight movement seemed to cause more pain.

"Just hold on for one minute, I'll go get Lady Tsunade," Sakura said, before rushing out of the room.

The girl whimpered and reached out after her. More than anything, she didn't want to be left by herself. But it was too late. She was alone again, with nothing to distract her from the pain, or the fear.

The unknown terror hovered at the edge of her conscious thought. She couldn't remember what had been so frightening, but still it haunted her. The cold, empty silence of the hospital seemed to close in around her. She didn't dare try and open her burning eyes again.

At last she heard hurried footsteps and the door opened. "Hinata, are you alright?" said another familiar voice.

"L-Lady H-Hokage?" the girl asked, fearful that this was all still part of her nightmare.

"Yes, it's me," answered the Hokage's calm, reassuring voice. "Tell me what's wrong?"

"My eyes... my hand... they h-hurt so much," she sobbed.

"Here let me help you," Tsunade said. "Just try to relax."

The girl flinched again when a pair of hands laid themselves over her eyes. She felt a tingling, and then a prickling in her temples. Then, gradually, the burning pain started to fade. Her frantic breathing began to slow and the girl let herself relax just a little.

The Hokage pulled her hands away. "There, does that feel better?"

The girl nodded weakly. The pain still lingered at the back of her eyes, but they felt infinitely better than before. She let herself relax a little more, but she still trembled.

"Good, let me sit you up." She adjusted the bed. "Alright, now can you open them for me?" The Hokage asked.

Hinata hesitated, fearing the blinding light and searing pain would overwhelm her again. Summoning what courage she could, she held her breath and cracked open her eyelids. Dazzling white consumed her vision and she snapped them shut again with a wince.

"Sakura, close the curtains," the Hokage ordered.

Hinata could hear her friend doing as she was told. Through her closed eyelids she could see the room darken. Preparing herself again, the girl opened her eyes by just a fraction. At first all she could see was a murky grey haze. She squinted in the direction of the Hokage's voice and managed to make out a rough yellow shape. "L-Lady Hokage, is that you?"

The shape moved closer. "Yes, I'm here. And Sakura is here, too. Can you see her?"

Blinking constantly, the girl slowly scanned the room. They felt dry, but her eyes seemed to be filled with tears. Everything was a murky, rippling blur. She began to worry when she couldn't find her friend, but then she noticed a telltale blob of pink hovering on the other side of the room. "S-Sakura?" she asked, squinting at what she could only hope was her.

Two people sighed in relief. "Yes it's me," the pink shape answered. The young medical ninja sat down next to the bed and Hinata felt a reassuring hand on her arm.

"That's good," said the voice of the Hokage. "It looks like your vision is going to be fine, just as long as you let your eyes rest and don't even think about using your Byakugan."

"B-but... I-I don't understand," the girl stammered, still confused and frightened by the whole situation. "W-what happened to me?"

"We were hoping you could tell us that yourself," the Hokage answered. "If you're ready, we'd like you to tell us everything that happened with you and your father."

The girl squinted at the Hokage's blurred face. "My father?"

"He's still in bad shape, even worse off than you," the Hokage said morbidly. "I doubt he'll be waking up any time soon."

The girl inhaled sharply. "He's hurt? What happened to him? I-is he going to be alright?"

A sudden silence descended upon the darkened room. Hinata squinted at the two blurred faces which seemed to be exchanging looks.

The Hokage finally spoke. "Uh, Hinata, what's the last thing you remember?"

The girl actually had to think for a moment. Her memory was as hazy as her vision. "I r-remember being chased by C-Cloud ninja," she said slowly. Then she covered her mouth with her hands and gasped. "S-Shino and K-Kiba! They were p-p-poisoned! Where are they? A-are they alright?" she asked frantically.

There was another pause before the Hokage answered. "Yes, they're fine. Sakura's team came and rescued them."

The girl turned to her pink haired friend. "Really? A-are they going to be alright?" she asked in earnest. "I didn't want to leave them like that. I-I was afraid they would... th-they would..."

"You don't have to worry," Sakura assured her. "You did the right thing. Everyone's back home in the village now. You're all safe."

The indigo haired girl hung her head and gave a quiet sigh of relief.

"Hinata, what's the next thing you remember after that?" the Hokage asked.

The girl took another moment to think. "I um... I was r-running from the Cloud ninja, trying to draw them away f-from Shino and Kiba. I tried to ambush one of them, but..." she hung her head, "but I wasn't strong enough," the girl mumbled.

"Is that when the other Cloud ninja showed up, the one with the bow?" asked Sakura.

"The C-Cloud ninja with the bow? Um... I d-don't think so," the girl replied uncertainly. "I think I remember getting away for a while. But I... c-couldn't stay away from them for long. Th-they were gaining on me... so I stopped. I think I took something... a soldier pill?" She held her head, straining to remember. "But after that I... I don't know."

Again, an eerie silence descended on the small hospital room. The girl blinked, trying to make out the hidden expressions on the faces of the other two women.

"Hinata... do you remember when you were found by Kakashi and... Naruto?" the Hokage asked, sounding slightly hesitant.

"N-Naruto?" She could feel a slight warmth in her cheeks. "He... they r-rescued me?"

"Yes." The Hokage leaned in closer, looking into her half open eyes. "Do you remember anything about that?"

The girl squinted back at her. Even with her eyes so blurred, she could still make out the serious expression on the Hokage's face. "No," she answered, shaking her head slightly. She didn't say it, but Hinata was sure she couldn't have forgotten something as amazing as being rescued by Naruto... could she?

"Hmm... Hinata, lay back and close your eyes for a moment," the Hokage requested, a curious note in her voice.

The girl did as she was asked. She felt a warm hand on her forehead and a light pulsating sensation. It felt soothing and relaxing. She had to resist the urge to fall asleep.

After a few minutes, the Hokage drew her hand away. "I see..." she said thoughtfully.

"W-what is it?" the girl asked wearily.

"It's... nothing to worry about," the blonde replied with a slight hesitance. "I think you just need to rest. Sakura and I will leave you alone."

"W-wait I..." the girl winced as she reached out toward them. She pulled her bandaged hand back and clutched it against her chest. There was an intense burning pain in the tips of her fingers which flared every time she tried to move them.

"It's alright, we won't be far away," the Hokage reassured her. "We'll come and see you later when you've had some sleep."

Hinata didn't want to be left alone, the fear still tugged at her heart. But her eyes and her mind were begging her to rest. She nodded weakly.

"Alright then. Come along, Sakura."

"Oh... Okay." The pink haired med ninja sounded confused. "I'll see you later, Hinata."

The two women left, and the girl let herself drift off into a fitful sleep. Confusing dreams of rogue ninja, poisoned wounds, and hidden secrets tormented her. And all the while, the nameless terror skirted the edge of her consciousness, never letting her rest.

* * *

"So she has amnesia?" Kakashi asked.

"Essentially, yes," Tsunade answered, looking out of her office window, "but not the kind I can cure."

Jiraiya gave her a puzzled look. "What are you talking about? That kind of thing shouldn't be a problem for you."

Tsunade shook her head. "It's not the kind of memory loss brought on by physical injury or a mental disorder." She turned back to face the two men as she tried to explain. "When she saw the Fox, the experience, combined with everything else she went through, was too much for her conscious mind to take. So the only way for her to deal with it was to seal the memories off in her subconscious. I could try to help her remember, but that could just cause her mind to break down again. She could even end up going comatose again."

"So you're just going to let her forget about it?" the Toad Sage asked in disbelief.

She shrugged. "Considering what it did to her, it's probably best that she doesn't remember for the moment. After all," Tsunade looked at the floor sadly, "don't you ever wish you could forget something?" she whispered.

Kakashi stroked his mask in thought. "Do you think it's a good idea for her to leave the village in that condition?"

Tsunade sighed. "It can't be helped. They have to leave. Hiashi could come out of his coma any day, and I don't want them here when that happens. We need to get them out of the village as soon as possible."

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" asked a voice from the window.

Two and a half pairs of eyes turned to look at the snow haired woman who was sitting on the windowsill.

"If you want me to be the one babysitting these kids then I should be the one to decide when they leave," Hitomi said, slipping through the open window to join the conversation.

Tsunade nodded in agreement. "Okay then. What do you want to do?"

Hitomi flashed a sly smirk at the old Toad Hermit, noting a look of embarrassment, before answering. "Well first of all, I'm not agreeing to anything just yet," she said firmly. "I want to help you out, Sensei, but I'm still not sure I want to get involved in all this."

The Hokage sighed. "I know it's asking a lot. And I'm not going to pressure you into this. I'm leaving the choice up to you, Hitomi."

"These two kids have a hell of a lot of trouble following them. And if I take them, that means it's going to be following me, too," Hitomi said sternly. "These Akatsuki guys don't sound like the kind of people I'd want to get involved with if I could help it. And I sure don't want to have the Hyuuga on my tail, either." She cocked an eyebrow at her old sensei. "How do I know they're not just going to get me killed, huh? How do I know they won't endanger my family? How do I know they won't just turn my life into a living hell?" she said, her arms folded firmly across her chest. "But most importantly," she added with a smirk, "how do I know I'm going to like them?"

Tsunade chuckled to herself. "Well, I guess you'll just have to meet them, then."

* * *

Authors Notes:

Right, there's the next chapter. Hope you found that little development interesting. Not much else to say here.

Enjoy.


	27. Meeting Your Destiny

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 27: Meeting your destiny

Part 1

Hitomi Haruka casually flicked through the file in her hands. What she saw didn't look particularly impressive. 'Failed the academy graduation exam three times... Worst scores in his graduating class... Related poorly with fellow students... Punished countless times for skipping classes and misbehaving...' He looked like the classic trouble maker, acting out to get attention. Not the kind of student anyone would choose to teach.

She snapped the file shut, tossed it onto the coffee table and picked up the second. 'Test scores average at best... Lowest scoring kunoichi in her graduating class... Reluctant to participate in group activities... Said to lack motivation and be discouraged easily...' She was far from being a model student, herself. Of course the file paid particular attention to her family ties. Hitomi shut the folder with a sneer of disgust and dumped it on top of the other.

"I'm not here to read old test scores, Sensei," Hitomi stated with a look or boredom. "When am I going to meet these two?"

The Hokage looked up from her drink. "If you're going to travel with them, you'll have to know their abilities. You haven't even looked at their ninja career files yet."

Hitomi shook her head. "Not a chance. I've probably got enough misconceptions about them already from those academy records." She leaned back on the couch putting her feet up on top of the folders. "I mean I understand why a ninja village would need standardised training and tests, but I've never put a whole lot of faith in that kind of system. No amount of figures and second hand reports can ever tell you if someone is going to make a good ninja... or a good _anything_ for that matter."

The Hokage chuckled. "Well it looks like Master Daichi really got to you, didn't he?"

"You're damn right he did," Hitomi answered with a smirk. "The old man always knew what he was talking about."

Tsunade hid a smile behind her cup. "Speaking of Master Daichi, how's he been doing recently?"

Hitomi shrugged. "Haven't seen him for over a year now, but the last time I did, he was happily enjoying his retirement. The old school's been pretty much empty since he closed it."

"He's not living alone, is he?" Tsunade asked with a hint of concern. "He shouldn't be, at his age."

"No, he's not completely alone." Hitomi rolled her eyes. "One of the old students is still living there." She noticed a sideways glance and a slight snigger from Shizune. She ignored the brunette and turned back to the Hokage. "I take it you haven't heard from him in a while."

Tsunade shook her head. "Not for years. I was actually thinking of sending him a letter."

"What for? You want to catch up on old times?"

"Actually, he's my backup plan."

Hitomi cocked an eyebrow over her sake cup. "You mean in case I don't want to take them myself?"

Tsunade nodded. "If he wasn't retired, he might have been my first choice. That's if he was willing to take them in, of course."

"Do you think he would?"

"He took you in, didn't he?"

Hitomi gave an amused snort. "That he did." She sipped her sake slowly and thought. "Hmm... I guess it couldn't hurt to ask him."

"I was thinking," Tsunade continued. "If you decided not to take them on yourself, would you at least be willing to escort them to Master Daichi?"

Hitomi shrugged. "Sure, why not? It's the least I could do for you, Sensei."

Shizune, who had been sifting through paperwork until then, was starting to get a little concerned about where the conversation was going. "Does that mean you don't want to take them?" she asked Hitomi, while giving the Hokage a curious glance. Surely her mentor hadn't sent her on a two week mission to track Hitomi down just so she could ask her to deliver the teenagers to somebody else.

Hitomi leant back on the couch and considered the brunette's question for a few moments. "Eh, I don't know," she shrugged. "If the old man was okay with the idea, it'd be better for them to hang out with him. I am the second choice, after all. And I could definitely do without the hassle."

Shizune's heart sunk. "So that's a no?" She'd gone to a lot of trouble to find the snow haired woman.

"Well, I do want to help you guys out," Hitomi said unenthusiastically, "but Master Daichi is probably the best choice."

Tsunade gave a nostalgic sigh. "Old Man Daichi... he's the last of a dying breed, like Sarutobi Sensei." She looked up at the portrait of her old teacher hanging on the wall along with the pictures of the other previous hokages. "The teaching methods he devised were revolutionary at the time. Nowadays they're standard practice within our own academy – the Third saw to that. But it was the way he dealt with individual students that made him a true genius – the way he could spot a person's underlying potential and know exactly how to draw it out – it was his unique hands-on approach. That's something we just can't replicate with our standardised training system. But, like you said, Hitomi, a ninja village needs that kind of system." She looked down at the reflection in her sake cup sadly. "Maybe that's why these two have been struggling. They need somebody like Master Daichi to give them the special treatment they need to truly achieve their potential. I wish I could have spent more time studying his methods."

Hitomi snorted. "You were always too busy trying to avoid your debt collectors to stick around," she chided. "Who knows? If you hadn't been roped into this Hokage gig, _you_ might have ended up being his successor."

Tsunade almost choked on her sake in a fit of giggling.

"I'm serious," Hitomi insisted. "I think he always wanted somebody like you to take his place and keep the school running." She poured herself another cup and swirled the warm liquid under her nose. "Unfortunately none of his students ever had the potential to take his place."

"What about Masaru?" Shizune chipped in.

Hitomi froze, mid sip. Her ice-blue eyes rolled in the direction of the brunette and glared at her incredulously. "Please tell me you're joking."

Shizune stared back innocuously in return. "What?"

Neither of them noticed Tsunade's hidden smile.

Hitomi slapped her cup down on the coffee table and barked out a mocking laugh. "Masaru replace Master Daichi? He could barely replace a light bulb."

"Don't be like that that," Shizune protested. "He's the one that stayed with Master Daichi, isn't he? Masaru was always his favourite student."

Hitomi turned away, folded her arms and fumed. "Only because he took pity on him. Masaru is a natural born loser. He's nothing like the Master."

"Maybe not, but look at what Master Daichi's training did for him," Shizune shot back. "He's living proof that anyone can become a great shinobi." She rested her chin in her hands and sighed. "Masaru... It's been years since I last saw him. I wonder how much he's changed."

Hitomi gave a snort of disgust. "Sorry if I insulted your boyfriend," she said sarcastically.

The blushing brunette quickly turned away. "Hitomi, don't be silly!"

Tsunade sat back and smirked to herself while the younger women argued. "Hmm... perhaps it would be better for them to train under Master Daichi," she said offhandedly, interrupting their squabble.

Both of her students immediately stopped talking and locked their attention on the Hokage.

The buxom blonde leant back on the couch and stared at the ceiling, deliberately avoiding their eyes. "I was reluctant to dump a couple of troublesome teenagers on him – he doesn't need that kind of stress at his age. But if he has somebody to help him..."

"Hold on a second," Hitomi cut in. "I still haven't decided if I want to take them myself."

Tsunade shrugged, still staring at the ceiling. "I don't know. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if you could handle them. I don't want them to cause too much trouble for you, with your family and all. And I really would like them to be trained in Master Daichi's method."

"Hey, I could train them," Hitomi declared. "It wouldn't be the first time. I was one of the Master's best students, remember? I know his teachings backwards."

Shizune blinked. 'Wow. She sure changed her mind all of a sudden. A minute ago she seemed happy to be off the hook.'

"Just let me meet these kids," Hitomi continued. "I'll decide for myself if I can handle them or not."

"Oh alright then, if you really want to," Tsunade agreed, seemingly indifferent. "They've had a few days to recover since they woke up. Why don't you see them tomorrow morning? Oh, and could you take a look at the girl's eyes while you're there?"

"Sure, I'll see what I can do." Hitomi hauled herself off the couch and shook out her hair. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'll go hit those hot springs."

Shizune waited until the snow haired woman had left the room. Then she turned to the still smirking Hokage. "What was that all about? You didn't really bring her all the way here just so she could deliver them to Master Daichi, did you?"

The blonde poured two more drinks and handed one to her assistant. "Don't worry, Shizune. I'm sure you didn't waste your time finding her."

The brunette squinted at her mistress suspiciously. "You have something up your sleeve, don't you, Lady Tsunade?"

She nocked back her cup and smiled contentedly. "Let's just say that Master Daichi's legacy is looking a bit more secure."

* * *

Hitomi strolled down the hospital hallways, her flowing mane of white hair swinging back and forth. She soon found the room she was looking for. Security seemed to have been relaxed since the boy woke up. She held out a document, signed by the Hokage, to the chunin guarding the hall.

He perused it thoroughly and looked her up and down before handing it back and letting her pass. "He's in the middle of a check-up right now. You may want to wait."

Hitomi just gave a neutral grunt in response and made her way to the door. She heard voices from inside as she approached.

"Don't lie to me! I know exactly where you were going," said an angry female voice.

'Hmm, that sounds like Tsunade's new apprentice,' Hitomi thought. She leant against the wall next to the door so she could listen in.

"You were trying to sneak off to that ramen shop again, weren't you?" the young woman said accusingly.

"Aw c'mon, Sakura," whined the voice of a young man. "You know I can't stand hospital food."

'And that must be this Naruto kid,' she thought. 'That's right, he has a crush on her, doesn't he?'

"Well you're just going to have to live with it," the young med ninja scolded him. "You're not getting anything else until you leave this hospital. You should consider it punishment for running off the last time and getting yourself beat up even worse."

Hitomi chuckled silently. "Yup, she's Tsunade's apprentice alright."

The young woman sighed heavily. "Why can't you learn to take care of yourself?"

Hitomi cocked an eyebrow. 'Hmm... sounds like she has a soft spot for him after all.' She pushed herself off the wall. 'Alright, I think I've done enough eavesdropping.'

The two teenagers turned to look when they heard a knock at the door.

"Am I interrupting something?" Hitomi asked, her lips betraying a slight smirk.

"Oh, Miss Haruka." The pink haired girl stood to greet her. "Lady Hokage said you'd drop by. You're here to see Naruto, right?"

"Sure am. "Hitomi looked toward the heavily bandaged young man. "How's it going, Blondie?"

The boy just stared at her, mouth half open, a light blush dusting his whisker marked cheeks.

Hitomi couldn't help but smile a little. She was used to young men having this reaction when they first saw her. 'This one should be easy to mess with,' she thought.

Sakura made introductions. "Naruto, this is Hitomi Haruka. She's a friend of Lady Tsunade."

The boy shook himself out of his trance. "Oh, so you're a friend of Grandma then, huh?"

"Grandma?" Hitomi couldn't hold back a giggle. "Never heard anyone call her that." She noticed the pink haired girl frowning at him. "I'm sorry. If you're not finished here I could wait outside."

"No, that's okay," Sakura replied cheerily. "We're all done here." She gathered her medical bag and left, sending one last warning glare at the boy as she walked out the door.

"Yeah, she's definitely Tsunade's apprentice," Hitomi commented as she took a seat next to the bed. "I've had more than a few lectures like that in the past."

"Oh, that's just Sakura. She's kinda always been like that." The boy laughed nervously. "So uh, Miss Haruka, did you, um, want to see me or something?"

She smiled gently, noting the blush creeping ever closer to his ears. "First of all, you can call me Hitomi. I don't like being called by my last name. It makes me feel almost as old as Tsunade." She could see the boy stifling a giggle. "I'm here to help you and your friend with your recovery."

"You mean Hinata?" he asked eagerly. "Have you seen her yet? Is she okay? They told me she woke up, but they still won't let me see her."

"No, I'm afraid I haven't seen her yet. I wanted to check on you first. I heard you got beaten up a lot worse than she did."

The boy folded his arms across his chest and pouted. "Humph, it's all because of her father. If he hadn't dragged Hinata out of the hospital like that, everything would have been fine. Lousy, stubborn, pig-headed..." He trailed off, mumbling a string of curses under his breath.

"Yes I heard about that," Hitomi said with some amusement. "I take it you're not a fan of the Hyuuga."

"You're damn right!" he boldly declared. "Or at least that Lord Hiashi jerk! If I hadn't been so beat up already, I would have taught him a serious lesson! What kind of person would put that caged-bird seal thing on his own daughter, anyway? He thinks she's weak, but he doesn't know anything about her. Hinata's an awesome ninja! I've seen what she can do. She'd make a great clan leader some day. But he was too high and mighty to listen when I told him that. And he's probably still gonna try to put that damn seal on her the first chance he gets."

Her cool blue eyes narrowed. "So you know about the caged-bird seal then, do you?"

The boy's expression went dark. "Yeah, I know all about it." He clenched his bandaged fists and glared at the wall. "The main branch uses it to control all the other Hyuuga like they're slaves or something. That's just sick! I mean they're supposed to be family, but I saw that jerk use the seal against his own nephew. What right does he have to treat someone else like that?"

She blinked in surprise. 'What do you know? Something we can actually agree on. I might be able to stand this kid after all.'

"Well it's not gonna be like that for long, that's for sure," the boy continued. "I made a promise that I would change the way of the Hyuuga. I'll make them stop using that stupid seal, and change how their whole clan works!" he declared, raising a tightly clenched fist.

Hitomi's eyebrows shot up. 'Well I heard he was gutsy but 'change the way of the Hyuuga'?' The woman chuckled to herself in disbelief. 'I guess he doesn't know much about clan politics.' She hung her arm over the back of her chair and frowned at him sceptically. "So you're going to make them stop using the caged-bird seal, huh? And how exactly do you plan on doing that, Kid?"

The boy turned and fixed her with a look of fierce determination. "No problem. I'm gonna become Hokage!"

Hitomi barely managed to contain a burst of laughter. "Oh really?" she asked, her voice laden with sarcasm. "So you're going to be Hokage, are you?"

"That's right!" he stated, seemingly oblivious to her patent disbelief. "I'm gonna become the greatest Hokage that ever lived! And when I do, I'm gonna make a whole lot of changes in this village. And the first one will be to make the Hyuuga stop using that damn seal! Hinata's old man is gonna be in some serious trouble then. There's no way I'm gonna let him get away with everything he's done," said the boy, smacking a fist into his open palm. "He is going to pay!"

'Wow, this kid is truly delusional,' she decided. 'His heart may be in the right place, but he obviously has no idea what he's talking about. Does he think he's going to become Hokage by beating the crap out of everyone who disagrees with him?' She rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking. 'Yeah, good luck with that, meathead.'

Hitomi reached for the chart hanging on the foot of his bed. "So anyway, let's see if there's anything I can do for you." She flicked through the pages detailing his condition and treatments since being admitted. What she read was nothing short of mind boggling. Although she'd been briefed about his injuries and recovery by Tsunade herself, she still found the records hard to believe. All medical logic said he shouldn't be breathing, let alone talking. "My my, looks like you had some fun, didn't you?" The snow haired woman commented with practiced nonchalance. She maintained her poker face, albeit barely.

In her mind, Hitomi was trembling. She hadn't just been briefed about the standard medical treatments the boy had received. She was one of the few people that knew the real source of his miraculous recovery. Or perhaps _diabolical_ recovery would be more accurate. The woman was both awed and disturbed by the power that the young man in the bed next to her contained.

'This kid should be six feet under,' Hitomi thought fearfully, 'but he's well on his way to a full recovery. Damn, the Nine Tails has abilities I never would have imagined. I wonder if I really can keep a leash on him.'

"So how am I doing?"

"Huh?" Hitomi was startled out of her thoughts by his sudden question.

The boy was blushing again, and the way his eyes wandered said he was trying not to stare. "I mean is there anything you can do to help me?" he asked, smiling a little sheepishly.

The snow haired woman gave him a sideways look. "Hmm... I'm not sure. You seem to be recovering just fine so far. In fact, I'd say you're recovering spectacularly."

"Oh, that's great," he said with a broad smile. "Sakura said I'd be out of here in a few weeks. But I was kinda wondering if there was anything you could do to speed things up. I'm not used to being out of action for so long."

She continued to eye him with suspicion. "Yes, I've been told that you've never stayed in the hospital for more than a few days. According to your medical records, you've managed to recover from some truly horrific injuries, and always in record time. You require minimal treatment and you never suffer any long-term side effects. You don't even have any scars." She flicked through the chart one more time, spotting half a dozen reasons the boy shouldn't have been alive. "For a person to heal that quickly is just remarkable – unheard of – some would even say... inhuman."

There was a pause. The boy shied away from the woman for a moment, but then he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Yeah, well I've always been quick to heal. I used to get into a lot of fights and get beaten up when I was a kid. But no matter how hard those other kids tried, they could never keep me down. All I'd need was a good night's sleep and I'd be back on deck and ready to teach them a lesson," the boy boasted, pumping his bandaged fist. He grinned wide, but his eyes didn't match his smile. "I may be a little bit tougher than other people, but I guess some guys are just lucky, you know? Or maybe my body just got used to all the beatings." He added a light chuckle on the end, obviously forced.

'Wait, is he trying to hide it?' Hitomi thought. She turned to face him properly and folded her arms, taking on a posture of clear scepticism. "You know, I've heard all about your last assignment, as well as your... _extra-curricular activities_. First this 'Wind Reader' guy turns you into a walking pin cushion, pumping you with enough poison to drop a rhino. But instead of making compost out of you, like it should have, it only manages to put you down for two weeks. And then, as soon as you wake up, you stagger off to have a little chat with this _'Lord Hiashi Jerk'_. And he proceeds to show you his hospitality by burning out your entire chakra network and shutting off most of your vital organs." She dangled the boy's chart in front of his face. "According to this, you took such a beating that the only way I should be talking to you is with the assistance of a little old lady and her crystal ball. And yet here you are... not dead!"

His fake grin faltered and he looked away again. "Well yeah, but Grandma is really good at medicine. I mean she's like the best medical ninja in the world or something, right? I probably would be dead right now if it wasn't for her."

Hitomi's flat, disbelieving stare remained. "Tsunade is a genius, but not a miracle worker. No normal human being could survive the kind of punishment you took – I don't care what sort of treatment you received." She leant forward and locked him with an armour piercing stare. "There's something different about you, isn't there?"

The boy couldn't hold her gaze. He looked down at his sheets for a moment before breaking out into awkward and obviously fake laughter. "Well yeah, of course I'm different," he said, louder than necessary. "I'm not just your average run-of-the-mill shinobi. You're looking at the strongest ninja in the whole Leaf village. I'm way tougher than anyone else. After all, no normal person could become Hokage, could they? Only the best of the best, like me, have what it takes." He scratched the back of his head and grinned from ear to ear, still forcing fake laughter through his teeth.

'Boy, does he suck at keeping a secret,' Hitomi thought, slumping back in her chair again. 'So he doesn't want to talk about it, huh? Looks like he'd rather go through life pretending he doesn't have a fifty foot walking apocalypse sealed inside of him. Damn, what a head case. Is this how he's always dealt with it? I was expecting another emotional shipwreck, but it doesn't even seem to faze him. Or maybe he's just too dumb to be depressed.'

For half a minute or so, the snow haired woman sat and watched him try to laugh off his secret shame. 'I wonder what it's been like for him,' she pondered. 'It's no wonder he's such a shrink job if he grew up without a family. Tsunade said that most of his generation doesn't know, but she seemed kind of cagey and depressed about the whole issue. I'm betting that he hasn't told any of his friends about his little secret. He's probably afraid they'd go all torches-and-pitchforks on him. Can't blame him, I guess.' She sighed inwardly as she watched his laughter dwindle into a sheepish smile. 'Still, he's had it a lot better than he could have. When you think about it, it's amazing how positive he is. Hell, he's downright chipper for somebody with all of his problems. I guess this little fantasy he has of becoming Hokage is another way for him to deal with it.'

The boy had gone back to fingering his sheets and avoiding eye contact by now. Hitomi laid the chart aside and glanced at the clock. 'Well, I think I've got a pretty good handle on his personality. He's a typical narcissistic teenage testosterone bomb with massive delusions of grandeur – no surprise there. Still can't be sure if I could stand living with him, though. Oh well, I guess there's just one last thing to check.' A devilish smirk flitted across her lips. 'Time to play my favourite game.'

Hitomi leant forward, propped her chin on a hand and gave him a wink. "So, you and Pinky, huh?"

The boy just goggled at her for a moment. "Pinky? Oh, you mean Sakura," he chuckled. "What about us?"

"Well she's your girlfriend, isn't she?"

The boy's face turned so red so fast that Hitomi almost dove for cover. "Oh, well... um... s-sort of, but... sort of not," he mumbled around an awkward giggle.

"Oh, really?" the snow haired woman asked, seemingly surprised. "I was just talking to her yesterday and she said you two were really close."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "W-well yeah I guess we are, but not like that."

"Are you sure?" she asked in a heavily suggestive tone. "You know, she said she might consider going out with you, once you get better."

His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged. "W-wait, Sakura said that?"

"Sure did," Hitomi lied. "In fact," she glanced at the door before leaning in close and whispering behind her hand, "she told me that she thinks you'd be perfect boyfriend material."

The boy blinked slowly. "P-perfect b-boyfriend material?" he stammered. "A-are you serious?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" she said, with a sweet smile of deception. "She might not show her affections on the surface, but some girls are just like that. Trust me; she's hiding her real feelings. I could tell just from listening to that lecture she gave you." Hitomi knew full-well that adding a touch of truth was the best way to make a lie more convincing. "And besides, what's not to like? I can see why she's so interested in you." The snow haired woman gave him a cheeky smirk. "You know if you were about ten years older, Pinky would have some competition."

Hitomi barely held in the laughter as she watched the goofiest grin she'd ever seen spread its way across his face.

"W-well that's really... um... Y-you know if I wasn't... I-I mean, I um..." the boy giggled and mumbled half sentences embarrassedly, his whole face practically glowing red.

'Time to move in for the kill,' the snow haired trickster decided.

She nudged him in the arm. "Hey, do you want to know what she likes about you the most?"

The boy's blue eyes lit up. "Um, yeah o-okay, why not?" he said, his bashful smile betraying his keen interest.

Hitomi giggled playfully. She gestured for him to come closer so she could whisper in his ear, and he eagerly leant in to listen. "She told me that what she loves the most about you... is that you're so stupid that she can trick you into doing anything she wants."

The blissful smile quickly melted off his face. "Huh...?" he whined pathetically.

Hitomi beamed. "That's right. She said that no matter how badly she treats you, you still come crawling back, begging for more. She loves leading you by the nose, stringing you along, letting you think you might actually have a chance with her some day." She ruffled his hair and gave his whiskers a pinch. "It's just so cute. You're her own personal plaything, aren't you?"

The snow haired woman sat there smiling for a moment, enjoying the shattered look on the young man's face. She decided the best way to describe his expression was _'gobsmacked with a side of heartbroken'_. All too quickly, her cheerfully innocent facade began to crumble and Hitomi's shoulders shook with barely suppressed laughter. Still it took the boy another half a minute or so to realise that she'd been pulling his leg.

"Th-that's not funny!" Naruto protested, once it had finally clicked. "You didn't even talk to Sakura, did you?" He folded his arms and scowled at the woman.

Despite her best efforts, Hitomi could no longer hold it in. She held her aching sides and laughed uncontrollably. Her amusement only made the boy frown even more, which in turn made her laugh even more. "Oh come on, Kid, I was just messing with you," she managed to say, once she'd gotten the worst of it out of her system.

Naruto fumed at her. "I knew that!" he insisted, unconvincingly. "Sakura doesn't boss me around like that."

"Of course she doesn't," Hitomi said with a grin and a dismissive wave. "You're not the kind of guy who'd let a girl run his life, are you? A real man would never let a woman control him."

"You're damn right!" the boy heartily agreed.

"But apparently, he would let her beat the living daylights out of him," she said with a cheeky grin.

He cringed and hung his head in defeat.

Hitomi threw back _her_ head and laughed out loud. 'Damn, this kid is such an easy target!' she thought. 'It'd almost be worth having him around just for the laughs.' She watched him sitting there, hunched over and sulking like a scolded preschooler. 'I can't believe everyone's making such a fuss about this loser. Tsunade said there was something special about him, but I don't see it. It looks to me like he's nothing but a typical, boxer-brained, fifteen year old. He thinks he's gonna be Hokage?' She snorted derisively. 'That kind of cheesy fairytale fantasy makes me sick. If he wants to have a dream, fine, he can go back into a coma. But this is reality – cold, hard, dream crushing, soul sucking, shove you face-first into the mud and kick you when you're down, reality.'

All of a sudden, the laughter had dwindled away. The snow haired woman turned aside and glared at the floor. She didn't find the boy's defeated expression so amusing now.

'Give it up, Kid. Dreams are for six year olds and snake oil peddlers.'

Depressing thoughts had sucked all of the fun out of her little game, and Hitomi suddenly had the desire to be somewhere else. "Well, Blondie, it's been fun. I'll see you later," she said as she hauled herself out of her chair. A moment ago, she'd found the boy entertaining, now he was making her feel very uneasy.

The boy just grunted in response. But when the snow haired woman was half way out the door, he called after her. "Hey, Hitomi?"

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at him. "Yeah, what's up, Romeo?" she teased half-heartedly.

He was still pouting and glaring sideways at the wall, but despite her quip, his frown had softened. "You're going to see Hinata now, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," she answered eventually. "Why?"

"Could you... could you tell Hinata I said hi?" he asked. "And tell her I hope she gets better soon."

Hitomi just stared over her shoulder at him for a moment. She saw the opportunity for another jab at the young man's ego, but for once she let it slide. "Yeah... whatever," she answered noncommittally.

Hitomi stepped out into the hall and let the door click shut behind her. A sudden desire to take a deep breath took her by surprise. For some reason she felt relieved to be out of that room, but she didn't want to consider why. Somehow that gullible young man had touched a raw nerve in her heart, bringing long buried memories to the surface – memories that she'd been trying to ignore for half of her life. Hitomi quickly covered them over again and steered her mind back to the present.

'Okay, he's pretty much what I expected. So what's the verdict; could I stand travelling with him or not?' the snow haired woman mused. 'Well he'd probably be nothing but trouble, but at least he'd be amusing to have around,' she thought with a half-hearted smirk. 'Yeah, I'm pretty sure I could keep him in line. But the girl could be a different story. I wonder if the Hyuuga of the so called _'Main House'_ really are as bad as everyone said.'

A shockingly bad cup of coffee from the nearby vending machines cleared her head, and Hitomi was soon making her way down the hospitals spotless white hallways, searching for her next appointment. She came to a corner and paused. 'Hmm, room B7 – where's that supposed to be again?' As she was thinking, she glimpsed a wisp of candy pink out of the corner of her eye. Hitomi turned and found the young medical ninja doing her rounds. "Oh, hey there, Pinky. You couldn't tell me where to find room B7, could you?"

"Oh you mean Hinata's room? Sure I'll show you the way," Sakura answered cheerfully.

Hitomi thanked the young woman and followed her down the corridor.

As she trailed behind, Hitomi couldn't help but think about her little game with the whiskered boy and the part that the girl in front of her had unknowingly played. She felt a twang of guilt at the way she'd portrayed her. The thought of apologising crossed her mind, but Hitomi wasn't exactly eager to recount the entire scene to her. Then a disturbing thought occurred: what if the Hokage's new apprentice actually did have feelings for him? Would he really be leaving a girlfriend behind? Hitomi decided that she'd have to know how the pink haired girl felt about him.

She stepped in alongside the young med ninja. "Ugh, that coffee has got to be the worst I've ever tasted," she said with a visible shudder. "It feels like I just ate a box of caffeinated chalk."

The pink haired girl giggled.

Hitomi smiled, satisfied that the ice had been successfully broken. "Hey, uh, your name was Sakura, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Listen, I know I don't know you that well, but could I ask you a sort of personal question?" she asked tentatively.

"Uh, about what?"

"Well, it's about Whisker Boy back there. You two are friends, right?"

"You mean Naruto? Yeah, we're friends. Not that he wouldn't like us to be more than that." She rolled her emerald green eyes.

"Not interested, huh?"

There was a noticeable pause. "Not exactly," Sakura mumbled.

Clearly there was something she didn't know, but Hitomi didn't have the heart to pry. "I asked him about you. Sorry, I just wanted to make sure." Not a true apology, but it was enough to quiet her conscience.

Hitomi thought she heard the young med ninja sigh. "That's okay. You're not the first person to ask," she said quietly.

It wasn't exactly an answer, but that was all Hitomi needed to know. There was nothing going on between them, though there was enough of a chance to keep the boy hoping. Another year or two around each other and she might have even been dumb enough to say yes. It was easy to see that hint of affection beneath the girl's domineering facade. She wondered how the Hokage's apprentice was going to feel when she found out the boy was leaving, but Hitomi knew she couldn't ask. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Half a minute later they reached room B7. Sakura waved to the ninja guarding the hall, explaining that Hitomi was someone they could trust. The pink haired girl opened the door a crack and peeked into the room. "Hmm, it looks like Hinata's still asleep at the moment," she whispered. "She should be waking up soon, though. Would you like to wait, Miss Haruka?"

"Please, call me Hitomi," the woman said with a half smile. "I suppose I'll wait. I really need to talk with her, and I don't exactly have anything else to do around here." Quietly, she slid the door open and stepped in. "Don't worry, I won't wake her. I'll see you around, Sakura," the snow haired woman whispered, giving her a wave as she clicked the door shut.

The young med ninja paused for a moment, staring at the door. 'Hitomi Haruka...' She frowned in suspicion. 'What's she doing here? And what's she got to do with Naruto and Hinata?'

* * *

It haunted her again – the nameless terror that hid in the darkest corners of her mind and clawed at the edge of her consciousness. She was caught between dreaming and waking, not sure which was worse. The terror waited for her in her dreams, but if she woke she would have to face the pain. Her fragile heart cried.

'Why is this happening to me?' she asked. 'I don't understand.'

_"I am truly sorry, child. But this is a pain you must endure."_

A chill gripped her as she felt a mysterious new presence. 'What was that? Who's there?'

_"Don't be afraid, young one. I would never wish you harm – though it grieves me to admit that this suffering was caused by my power."_

Like the terror, it hovered at the edge of her consciousness – not quite heard and not quite seen. But she felt no urge to flee. This new presence seemed to radiate a feeling of peace which calmed her quaking heart. 'Wait, where are you? I can't hear you,' the girl called out. But it remained elusive.

_"I am afraid it is not yet time, dear child. You are still unable to hear my voice. There is much more you must undergo before your mind, body and soul will be ready to bear my burden."_

The girl tried to hold on to this mysterious presence. While it was with her, she could stay in this halfway place between the fear and the pain. 'Who are you? Please let me see you.'

_"No, child, it is still too soon. I will watch over you until you are ready. Until then, you must go on alone. I can only apologise for the suffering you have yet to endure."_

'Wait. Please don't leave me alone.' Her heart reached for it, but it was already slipping away. She felt herself rising from the depths of unconsciousness, and the pain was beginning to envelop her. 'Please, I don't want it to hurt again.'

_"I am sorry, child. I am truly sorry... But wait, what is this? Here is something I did not expect."_

Behind the dull but rising pain, an unfamiliar ripple of energy pushed into the girl's heart. A tingling sensation spread from her core into her heavy limbs, reconnecting her wayward mind with her battered body. Distant sounds from beyond the veil of sleep called her to awaken. She fought against the pull of consciousness with all she had, but it was hopeless. "No... Please come back..."

_"Wake now, child. I will return to you in due time. And don't be afraid. It seems that you won't have to suffer as much as I had feared."_

"No... No, don't go..." A deep throbbing gripped her in the temples. She tried to raise her gradually waking arms to reach after the half-heard voice, but something weighed them down.

_"Shush. It's alright. Don't be afraid."_

The throbbing rose to a harsh burning behind her eyes. "No, it hurts... Don't make it hurt again, please..." The girl rolled her heavy head from side to side, trying to shake off the pain. She clung to the last remnants of sleep and the sweet memory that was already fading with it.

_"Don't worry, it's okay. Just relax and let me help you."_

Hinata tried to pull away at first when she felt something else pressing against her temples. But what came next was not another wave of pain. Instead, a wash of cool, soothing energy flooded her throbbing head. It bathed her aching eyes and quenched the fire behind them. She abandoned her struggle and let herself relax, as the voice had told her. The girl breathed deep and drank in the healing energies. Soon the pain she had feared so much was all but gone.

"There you go. That's much better, isn't it?" said the sweet, gentle voice. "Now why don't you open your eyes?"

Still in a half-conscious daze, the girl lifted her heavy eyelids and looked up toward the source of the voice. A hazy white fog pierced with shafts of sunlight filled her vision. As her eyes adjusted, a face gradually began to form, looking down on her from above. It smiled at her, and Hinata's breath caught in her throat.

"Can you see now?" the heavenly apparition asked.

The girl could only stare. This face that appeared before her had, in a heartbeat, redefined what she thought of as beauty. It looked like a woman, mature, but still youthful. Rays of sun played across its gentle features and warm, playful smile. A shimmering white halo surrounded it, and its eyes sparkled softly like polished jewels. She was sure that it could only be an angel.

"What's wrong?" the angel asked in its sweet, melodious voice.

"Y-you... you're beautiful," Hinata answered breathlessly.

The _'angel'_ frowned. "Damn, kid, what kind of crap have they been jabbing you with?" She tapped the girl on the forehead a few times. "Come on, snap out of it."

"Huh?" Hinata's mind was jumbled to say the least. She blinked a few times and the fog of semi-consciousness began to clear. The strange but beautiful woman moved away from her, and the girl finally started to consider where she was. She rolled her head around and forced her eyes to focus. After a while she began to recognise the sparse furnishings and white walls of a hospital recovery room. And the woman, that a moment ago she would have sworn was a divine being, was standing at the foot of her bed reading a chart.

"It doesn't look like they gave you much in the way of painkillers," said the mysterious person. "Are you awake yet, or do you need another jump-start?"

'Jump-start?' What on earth was she talking about, the girl wondered? And more to the point, who was she?

The woman bent over her again and started flashing a tiny light in the girl's eyes. "Yo, are you with me or not? Speak up, kid."

Hinata blinked and squinted. The light made her eyes sting a little. "Uh y-yes, I'm awake," she finally managed to spit out. "W-where am I?"

The stranger put the light away and cocked a quizzical eyebrow at her. "Where do you _think_ you are?"

The girl took another quick look around the room. "Uh... K-Konoha hospital?"

She gave a heavy sigh of relief. "Good. I was starting to think I'd broken you or something." The woman tossed back her long white hair and dropped into the chair behind her. "It looked like you were having quite a nasty little dream, so I thought I'd better bring you out of it."

Hinata tried to think back a few minutes. A vague memory of something unpleasant lingered in the back of her mind, but she couldn't remember anything specific. Her dreams had faded away the moment she awoke, just like they had for the last few days. "Oh..." was all she could say.

An uncomfortable silence reigned for a few moments before the snow haired woman spoke up again. "So anyway, my name's Hitomi Haruka. Pleased to meet you," she said with a smile.

Hinata was now convinced that this strange woman was not an angel. Even so, she still found it hard to believe that a person could actually be so beautiful. She looked like something out of a dream or a fairytale. And was that really her hair? Sunlight streamed in through the windows and reflected off the shimmering veil of white, making it look like it was glowing from within. It fit perfectly with the woman's radiant beauty. She looked so different from anyone Hinata knew; and yet at the same time, there was a calming familiarity about her, something the girl couldn't quite put her finger on.

Remembering her manners at last, Hinata began to sit herself up. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is–" She winced sharply when she tried to put weight on her bandaged right hand.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Hitomi said absently. She adjusted the bed to put the girl in a sitting position and lifted her arm to inspect it. "That sure is a weird injury you've got there, Miss Hyuuga."

"Y-you know my name?"

"Hinata Hyuuga, of the illustrious Hyuuga clan," Hitomi said dryly. She paused and glanced at the girl sideways. "It's on your chart."

"Oh, y-yes of course." The girl felt a little sheepish. "And I'm pleased to meet you, too, Miss Haruka."

The snow haired woman groaned and rolled her eyes. "You know, Hinata, you're the third person to call me that today, and I'm really starting to get sick of it. Please just call me Hitomi, okay?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll – _ah!_" Hinata jumped when the woman squeezed the end of her forefinger, triggering a slight jab of pain.

"Yeah, that's weird, alright," Hitomi mumbled as she proceeded to do the same with each of the girl's fingers.

It seemed that Hitomi wasn't all that interested in pleasantries, so Hinata decided to keep quiet. She just sat as still as she could, trying not to flinch at the occasional jabs of pain, and watched the woman work.

The girl did her best to avoid staring, but aside from Hitomi's pretty face and impossibly gorgeous hair, she was starting to notice other things. First and foremost was her rather unusual outfit. The tight shorts, heavy leather skirt and tank top were not too unusual, at least for a ninja. Even the single elbow-length fingerless fishnet glove on her left hand, and the matching stocking on her left leg, could be accepted as a fashion statement. But she was sure that this would _not_ be considered appropriate attire for somebody working in a hospital. That begged the question of why she was there. The woman seemed to know what she was doing, but Hinata had to wonder what kind of medic she was.

After a few minutes of having her hand pinched and prodded, Hinata managed to pluck up enough courage to ask. "E-excuse me, are you a Leaf medical ninja, Miss Hitomi? I'm sure I've never seen you before."

Hitomi chuckled at her persistent use of _Miss_. "No, I'm a specialist from out of town," she answered without looking up from her examination. "Tsunade called me in to take a look at you and that spiky haired friend of yours."

Hinata's heart fluttered at the thought of the boy she secretly loved. "Do you mean Naruto? Is he doing alright?"

"He's fine," Hitomi said quickly.

The girl eagerly waited for more information, but it wasn't forthcoming. "Oh... I-I'm glad," she said with more than a little disappointment.

Hinata had almost had a panic attack when she'd found out that Naruto was in the hospital again. She had always been concerned for his safety, but for some reason the news that he was injured had chilled her to the bone this time. Something had told her that he was in terrible danger, and Sakura had barely managed to convince her otherwise. But what really bothered the girl was that nobody would tell her anything about his condition or why he was there. And it seemed that this mysterious woman wasn't going to tell her very much, either.

Hitomi, meanwhile, hadn't missed the girl's eagerness to hear more. But she had been strictly forbidden from telling either of the teens about the other's condition. Apparently Tsunade was a bit paranoid about what they would do if they heard the full story of their predicament too soon. Hitomi had gone along with her old sensei's wishes, not really caring either way. She was happy to let the Hokage deal with the whole mess of telling the young ninja that they were about to have their lives turned upside-down.

Besides, the snow haired woman was far more interested in studying the girl's injuries than recounting the boy's. She'd already peeled away the tight bandaging from her patient's hand, and was fascinated by what she uncovered. In all her years of medical study, Hitomi had never encountered an injury quite like this one. Each of the girl's fingers was tipped by a sickly purple blotch that stained the skin, like ink. The seasoned med ninja could come up with several theories as to what might have caused the condition, but none of them fit perfectly. It was an intriguing mystery, one which she felt strangely eager to solve.

"I've been reading up on your condition," she said, nodding toward the girl's chart. "It says you've got some minor metaphysical chakra necrosis in your fingertips. It's causing a whole lot of disruption in your nervous system, especially your tactile receptors."

"I uh, I don't know what that means," the girl said, her brows pinched in a puzzled frown.

Hitomi shrugged. "I'm not surprised. I barely understand it myself. Let's just say it's pretty damn nasty. Are you feeling a kind of painful tingling sensation under your fingernails?" she asked.

Hinata looked down at her now un-bandaged digits and nodded. "I have pins-and-needles in all of my fingers, and the joints feel stiff."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. You've probably already been told this, but I wouldn't recommend using that hand for at least a week."

"Y-yes, I know. I won't."

"You know, it would help if I knew exactly what happened to you," Hitomi prodded. "It's always harder to treat the symptoms when you don't know the cause."

The girl looked down into her lap with a slight frown. "I... I'm not sure what happened," she said quietly.

"You don't remember?" The snow haired woman knew she wasn't allowed to tell her about the fight she'd had with her father – something the girl apparently wasn't aware of, herself – but she was sceptical about the reports of amnesia. Not that she doubted Tsunade's appraisal, but selective memory loss of this kind had always seemed suspicious to her. "Are you sure?"

Hinata closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her good hand. "I-I'm sorry, I don't remember anything," she said, shaking her head slightly.

'A likely story,' Hitomi thought, not yet convinced. 'Still, if she really did see one of those monsters, I wouldn't blame her for not wanting to remember – though I wonder if it was really that bad or if she was just too dainty and delicate to take it.'

The snow haired woman shrugged and began reapplying the dressings to the girl's hand. "Well, whatever. It should heal up eventually with the right treatment. Don't worry about it too much."

Hinata waited patiently while the bandages were tied and pinned in place. "Th-thank you, Miss Hitomi," she said with a slight bow of her head once the work was finished.

Hitomi chuckled to herself lightly. 'She may be a bit of a stutter-bug, but she has got to be the most infallibly polite person I have ever met. But I guess that's not surprising, considering who she is. The kid must have been raised to be a noble as well as a warrior.' Her lips betrayed a hint of a smirk. 'I'd better make sure she's not too much like her ancestors, though. I think it's time to mess with her a little.'

She leaned back in her chair, flicking her snowy locks over her shoulder. "Well we do have to take care of someone as important as you. I mean you are the heir to the legendary Hyuuga clan, aren't you?"

The girl turned her pale eyes away and stared into her lap. "Um... y-yes," she said quietly.

"You know I've never met a member of a noble house before," Hitomi said in mock interest. "What's it like being the heir to such a prestigious and honoured clan? I bet a lot of people would kill to be in your shoes – living in that big manor, never having to worry about money or anything..."

"Hmm..." the girl mumbled in half-hearted agreement.

"I mean sure you still have to be a ninja and all, even if it's not really your thing." She twirled a strand of white hair around her finger and looked up at the ceiling. "But then I guess it doesn't matter if you're an antisocial, bottom scoring, little stutter-bug when your father is the head of the Hyuuga clan."

The girls head snapped up. She goggled at the woman, her tired eyes wide and mouth hanging open in surprise. "W-what?" she squeaked.

"Yeah, the rest of us have to rely on things like skill and effort and, you know, actually doing stuff for ourselves,' Hitomi continued in a slightly mocking, sing-song voice. 'But with daddy pulling the strings, why bother? There's no need to waste your time with all that _'hard work'_ stuff when you have everything handed to you on a silver platter, is there?" she said with a smirk.

Hitomi raised a mocking eyebrow at the girl, who just sat there gaping at her. The snow haired woman grinned smugly and waited for the heiress to blow her top and demand an apology for speaking so disrespectfully to someone of her standing. But the smug look soon melted away when the girl's bottom lip began trembling and tears formed at the edges of her red, puffy eyes. It was Hitomi's turn to be surprised when the girl turned away and started crying.

'Wait, what the heck is this?' Hitomi thought, bemused at first by the girl's behaviour. 'This is supposed to be the part where she gets all high and mighty and tries to talk down to me... right?'

"Hey, what's with you, kid?" she asked with a hesitant chuckle, still expecting the girl to start yelling any minute.

The young woman hid her face in her hands and began sobbing uncontrollably. Hitomi wondered if she was faking, but that theory was quickly dissolving in a flood of very real tears.

"Hey, it was just a joke," the woman said, starting to feel uneasy now. "Come on, kid, stop it."

But the girl just cried even harder. Her shoulders shook and her bandages quickly became damp from the flow of salty droplets.

Apprehension began to set in. Hitomi tried one last time to laugh it off, but she could barely summon a smile. "Hey... H-Hinata, would you stop crying already? I said it was just a joke."

The girl wouldn't look at her. "B-but it's true," she choked out between sobs.

Hitomi blinked. "W-what?" A leaden weight began to settle in the pit of her stomach. "No it's not. I was just playing around."

"No, you're right," Hinata mumbled. She wiped her sleeve across her face and stared into her lap mournfully. "I've never been any good at anything. If my father wasn't head of the Hyuuga clan, I'd be a complete nobody. I can't do anything for myself. Everything you said was true."

Hitomi felt the biting blade of guilt twist inside her, and she cringed visibly. "No it's not. It's not true," she insisted. "I was just making a stupid joke."

"It _is_ true," the girl said softly. "I'm a failure and I always have been," she whispered to herself as much as to the woman next to her. "No matter how hard I try, I've never been able to live up to people's expectations. Ever since I started my training, everyone has been telling me that I'm not good enough. And ever since I became a ninja, I've done nothing but get in the way and let people down. My teammates always have to make up for my mistakes – my clan ignores me and secretly hopes that I won't be their leader some day – and... my f-father h-hates me." She squeezed her eyes shut to try and hold off the next wave. "You're right about me, Miss Hitomi. I've never been worthy of my birthright." The girl rolled over on her side, putting her back to the snow haired woman, and covered her face again. "And... and I n-never w-will be."

The words echoed through Hitomi's mind as she stared at the young woman's back. Muffled sobs felt like blows to the heart. 'Oh crap. What have I done?'

"H-Hinata, s-stop crying," she begged, but barely managed a whisper. "I-I didn't know. P-please... s-stop crying."

Her chest began to heave. Her hands fisted around her thick white hair. She wanted to look away, but she was transfixed. 'I didn't want to hurt her... I didn't mean it... It was just a joke... I didn't know... I just thought it was a joke... I didn't mean to make her cry... I didn't mean to make her cry... I didn't mean to make her cry...!'

"Oh, Kiddo, I'm so sorry." Hitomi fell to her knees beside the girl's bed and reached out to embrace her.

'Wait, what?' She stopped, pulling her hands back suddenly. 'What did I just call her?' Hitomi shook her head and took a second look at the young woman. 'What am I doing? She's not my Kiddo.'

Echoes of a young girl's tears reverberated through her memories. The image of that fragile form curled up in the corner of a dank, dark cave – it haunted her. An old wound in her stony heart was beginning to reopen. It was then that Hitomi first noticed the tickle on her cheeks. She wiped them with a trembling hand and was truly shocked to discover tears flowing down them freely.

'What the hell is wrong with me? Snap out of it, Hitomi. This kid is the heiress of the Hyuuga clan! She's nothing like...' She watched the girl's shoulders quiver with each muffled sob. 'But she does kind of... _NO!_ Get your head together! She's just a snobby little...' The young woman's words of defeat played over in her mind again. Hitomi hung her head and let the tears fall. 'Damn it... _Damn it!_ What the hell have I done?'

The snow haired woman rocked back and forth on her knees, gripping her head and silently crying out in anguish. 'She's not a snobby aristocrat. She's not like the stuck up, high and mighty Hyuuga I've heard of at all. After that big speech to Tsunade sensei, I went ahead and judged her like I knew everything. I am such a... such a...' She beat the heels of her hands against her forehead, furious at herself for what she'd done. 'I have to fix this, somehow. I have to make it up to her. Come on, Hitomi, do something!'

She scrambled around to the far side of the bed and knelt down beside the sobbing girl. 'Come on, Hitomi, get a grip,' she ordered herself, rubbing the tears out of her eyes.

"Hey, H-Hinata." The quiver in her voice cracked the calm facade she was trying to hold up. "Please stop crying. I didn't mean what I said, really.

"It's true," the girl mumbled through her pillow.

Hitomi felt another twist of the blade. "No, it's _not_ true, Kiddo!" she almost shouted.

Shocked by the sudden outburst, Hinata peeked out from under her hands. The snow haired woman and the indigo haired girl locked eyes and just stared at each other for a moment.

'I said it again,' Hitomi thought as she looked into those wide lavender orbs. 'What is wrong with me?'

Each blinked a few times.

"Look... H-Hinata, you shouldn't take what I said seriously."

"But it's..."

"No!" she practically yelled again. "You... you can't let stuff like that get to you," she said, trying to stay calm. "You're a kunoichi, and a damn good one from what I've heard."

Hinata looked away again, the depression clear in her eyes. "You're just saying that," she mumbled.

"I am not!" Hitomi insisted. "I heard about your last mission. Taking on a squad of four rogue ninja and holding them off until help arrived – that's impressive, girlie." It was enough to make the young woman blink in surprise.

Hinata soon buried her face back in her pillow, though. "I'm sorry, but you're wrong. I couldn't fight them. All I could do was run." A quiet sniff said another round of tears was on the way. "I've never done anything right since I became a ninja."

Hitomi cringed and let her head hang back in defeat. 'Damn it, what do I say?' she asked the ceiling silently. 'Come on, I've got to tell her something to pep her up. Why the hell didn't I read her career files?' She searched the room for inspiration, anything she could say to make the girl feel better, but there was only one thing she could think of.

"Well... that's not what the blonde kid said."

The girl peeked one eye out from behind her pillow. "B-blonde kid?"

"Yeah you know the loudmouth with the whisker marks? He said you were... an awesome ninja," Hitomi said hesitantly, feeling sure she was clutching at straws.

The indigo haired girl sniffed and rubbed her face with her sleeve. "N-Naruto said that?"

"Y-yeah..." Hitomi said, tugging on a strand of white hair bashfully. "He asked me to say hi, and said he hopes you'll get better soon." She cringed inwardly, feeling guilty at her pitiful attempt to comfort the young woman.

Hinata just stared at her for half a minute. Then, to Hitomi's surprise, she slowly sat herself up again. The girl still looked sad, but the tears were gone.

Hitomi was confused by the sudden change in demeanour, but she wasn't about to complain. 'You're kidding. Was that really all it took to get her out if it?' she thought. 'Well, whatever works, I guess. I'm just glad she's not crying anymore. I don't think I could have taken another round of that.' She let out a deep breath quietly. 'Now I just have to apologise.'

She placed a tentative hand on the girl's sleeve. "Listen, K... _kid_, I'm sorry for what I said about your clan," Hitomi said, bowing her head apologetically. "My family has had some... disagreements, with certain clans in the past. We're not very good at trusting people. Or at least _I'm_ not very good at trusting people. I shouldn't go around saying stuff like that."

"I... understand," the girl replied softly, looking down at her hands. "I shouldn't be so easily affected by words. I should be strong and stand tall, so that I won't disgrace my clan. That's what my f-father says."

The snow haired woman sighed to herself quietly. 'Damn, you really dug in deep, didn't you, Hitomi? She's still cut up over it. I should have realised it from the start – she's been living her whole life in her father's shadow. The poor kid's probably had impossible goals set for her, and now she feels useless because she can't achieve them.'

"Hinata, if you don't mind me asking, do you want to be the head of your clan some day?"

The girl didn't answer at first. Hitomi noticed her begin to fidget a little and hoped she hadn't screwed up again.

"It... it is a g-great honour," she said at last. "I want to... p-protect my family and my clan. I want to be the heir that everyone expects me to be."

Hitomi could hear the sadness and uncertainty in her words. She could tell that the girl had wished for another life any number of times. The snow haired woman sighed heavily and looked up to the ceiling, recalling her own mixed up past. "It's not easy, is it?"

The girl raised her sad, tired eyes to look at her. "Huh?"

"It's not easy living up to people's expectations," Hitomi said quietly, "trying to become what everyone else tells you to be instead of what you want to be – trying to achieve that perfect, pre-planned life that was laid out for you by somebody else?"

"B-but I do want to be a... a good heir," the young woman said hesitantly.

But this time Hitomi knew exactly how she felt. She looked into the girls weary lavender eyes with a sad smile. "He doesn't think you're quite up to his standards, does he? Your dad I mean."

Hinata looked down into her lap again and sighed. "He thinks I'm a f-failure – that I'm not worthy to succeed him." She sniffed back another tear. "He thinks that I'm too weak a-and shy a-and I don't have the strength of will to lead the clan."

Hitomi stroked her arm gently. "Well, I guess some people just don't fit the mould, huh?"

Hinata nodded slightly. "I want to make my father proud, b-but no matter how hard I try, I'm still not good enough."

'Tell me about it, Kid. Truth is it doesn't matter how good you are. With a father like that, you'll never be quite perfect enough. Whenever you start to get near the bar, he just raises it even higher.'

"Hey, you know what one of my old teachers said?" Hitomi asked.

The girl shook her head.

"He said: _'If all your dreams are easy to achieve, then you'll have everything you want,'_" Hitomi quoted, "_'but in the end, you'll realise that just having everything you want isn't a dream worth having.'"_

The girl looked up at her with a puzzled expression. "I-I don't understand."

Hitomi chuckled to herself. "Actually I'm still trying to figure that one out for myself. But somehow it still manages to make sense, doesn't it?" She stood up and brushed her hair back over her shoulders. "One thing I do know, kid. We may not always fit the mould, but you know what? Sometimes it's the mould that doesn't fit you."

The girl continued to stare in bewilderment.

"Just think about it. I'm sure you can figure it out." Hitomi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 'Okay, now it's time to do this properly,' she told herself.

The snow haired woman stood up and brushed off her knees. "So anyway, um... I'm sorry I insulted you and your family, Hinata," she said, bowing her head in apology. "I hope you can forgive me."

Hinata bowed her head in return. "I accept your apology, Miss Hitomi. You are forgiven." She lifted her head and gave a little smile at last.

Hitomi felt the burden of guilt fall away. She let out a quiet sigh of relief and smiled back kindly. "Well I'm glad to have met you, Hinata Hyuuga. Perhaps I'll see you again soon." With one last bow, she turned and headed for the door.

"Um, M-Miss Hitomi?" the girl called after her quietly.

"Hmm?" She stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

"Um... th-thank you again for helping with my injuries. A-and if you see Naruto again, could you... could you tell him I said hello?"

Hitomi couldn't help but smile back warmly. "No problem, Kiddo." She blinked at her own words and turned away quickly. 'Three times...? I said it three times. No way...!'

With an unfamiliar tremble in her heart, she stepped out into the hallway and carefully shut the door behind her. 'What has gotten into me?' Hitomi wondered. 'These kids have seriously messed me up.'

The snow haired woman walked slowly down the hospital corridor toward the nearest exit, lost in her own troubled thoughts. She didn't even notice the pink haired girl watching her from around the corner, suspiciously. Once outside in the cool evening air, her head finally began to clear up. Her first instinct was to go and find the nearest place to get a stiff drink, but she quickly squashed that idea.

'No, not tonight,' she decided. 'Tonight I've got some serious thinking to do.'

* * *

The sun had begun to hang low over Konoha. The mysterious traveller with the long white hair had been sitting at the same table for hours. She lazily swirled the sweet smelling liquid in her teacup and stared out at the reddening sky.

'What should I do?' she asked herself for the thousandth time that hour. 'Do I really want to take on such a huge responsibility? These kids need help, that's for sure. But am I really the best person to give it to them?' She took a sip of her tea, barely noticing that it was starting to go cold.

'Okay, let's look at this from the top down. I guess I've only got three options: I could say yes to Tsunade and take them on the road with me, I could say no and deliver them to Master Daichi instead, or I could be a, selfish, ungrateful, utterly heartless jerk and haul my butt out of this mess before I get myself killed.' She frowned at herself. 'Who am I kidding? I've got two options. I'd rather shave myself bald than run off on Tsunade like that.'

She picked up the last dango stick, slid the sweet dumpling into her mouth and chewed it lazily. 'I guess the safe option would be to just dump them on the Master, but I couldn't bear to leave that poor kid there all alone.' The young woman's words were still fresh in Hitomi's mind, and the echo of her sobs still stung. 'You can't just walk away, can you, Hitomi? That girl needs help, and as depressing as the fact may be, you are the best person to help her.' Hitomi propped her chin on her hand and sighed heavily. 'Damn, I can't believe I called her that. I must be losing my mind. She's not my Kiddo... But still...'

Bittersweet memories trickled through her thoughts. Pangs of guilt came with them, but Hitomi didn't try to bury them this time. 'The old man would look after her well enough, but what she really needs is a strong feminine influence, like Tsunade was for me. That poor kid needs to get out of this village and away from that bastard of a father of hers. She needs somebody to teach her how to be a real kunoichi, not just a nice, quiet, obedient, automaton slave like her daddy wants her to be. Maybe I could do that for her.' An uncomfortable lump settled in Hitomi's stomach, and she was fairly sure it wasn't the dango. 'I'd just have to make sure I didn't screw it up this time.'

She tossed the empty dango skewer onto her plate and shrugged. 'Yeah, I guess that'd be a pretty good plan. I could take them to Master Daichi's school, hang out there for a while and teach the girl a few things, and the old man could worry about the punk. That'd be just about perfect.' Hitomi rolled her eyes. 'Yeah right. You wish it could be that simple, but there's one little problem,' she thought irritably. 'Masaru...' A shiver ran down her spine. 'I'd be happy if I never saw that... that...' She caught herself scratching at her arm again and quickly grabbed her teacup to keep her hands busy. 'Damn it, why the hell did he have to stick around?' She silently fumed as she thought about her years at the master's school and the reason she finally left.

Another sip of cold tea helped wash away the bittersweet memories. 'Well, the other option is to take them on the road with me. I guess that could work. In fact, I could probably make quite a lot of money off them. I've always worked alone, but it's not as if that was by choice. I always planned on having a sidekick anyway.' She smiled nostalgically. 'It might even be fun to have her tagging along. I hardly ever get to do girl stuff anymore. It'd be kinda like the old days with Tsunade and Shizune.' Her smile quickly faded though. 'Problem is, that means I'd have to take the boy, too.'

Hitomi frowned into her half empty teacup. 'I don't get it. Why on earth does Tsunade sensei have such a soft spot for him? It looks to me like he's just another typical loud mouthed, empty headed, hormonally unstable teenage boy – if you ignore the Nine Tails that is.' She shuddered. The mere thought of the Fox made her nervous. 'That manipulative old hag, why was she so damn adamant that I take both of them? Why can't I just dump the testosterone bomb on Master Daichi and train the girl by myself? Sure he'd be amusing sometimes, but he'd probably be a pain in the ass the rest of the time.' She tapped her nails on her teacup and chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. 'So, do I try to handle them by myself, or do I ask the master for help? That's what it all boils down to.'

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before quaffing the last of her tea. 'Alright, I've thought about this for long enough. I've got to make a decision.' She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

Seconds ticked by.

At last her cool blue eyes snapped open. "Screw it," she mumbled, and shoved herself away from the table.

Minutes later, she marched into the Hokage's office. Tsunade looked up from the last of the day's paperwork. She knew what this was about.

"I've only got one last question," Hitomi stated.

Tsunade leant back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap. "Go ahead."

"What if I change my mind?" she asked. "If I get sick of these brats after a few months, can I dump them on Master Daichi instead?"

The buxom blonde couldn't quite hide a smirk. "I wouldn't hold it against you."

Hitomi studied her old sensei's face intently. "You're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

"I thought I'd already answered your last question," said Tsunade with an even less stealthy smirk.

The snow haired woman hung her head and sighed heavily. "Okay then... Sensei, you've got me."

The Hokage smiled broadly. "You're sure about this?"

"Yeah…" Hitomi looked her square in the eye. "I'll take them."

* * *

Authors Notes:

Damn, this one was a lot longer than I intended it to be. In fact, when I tried to post the edited version on dA, I had to chop it in half so it would fit the size limit.

Anyway, there's a few new teasers for you to speculate over. Hope you enjoy.


	28. Lost Purpose

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 28: Lost Purpose

The three women sat around the table, a few empty bottles of sake between them. The mood was cheerful enough, but a hint of sadness lingered in the air. They knew their time together was drawing to a close.

"So you think they're ready to leave?" asked Hitomi.

Shizune nodded. "They're both up and walking again. Sakura said they'll be fine within a few weeks or so."

"A few weeks?" the snow haired woman frowned. "They have to be ready to travel. I'm not going to carry them, you know."

"It'll have to do," Tsunade said with a sigh. "The Hyuuga are getting restless. Lord Hiroshi may not wait until Hiashi wakes up. We have to get them out of the village before they start putting pressure on us."

Hitomi took a sip from her sake cup. "Well I guess it's about time you told them then."

Tsunade looked down into her own cup with a touch of sorrow in her eyes. "You're right. We've been keeping them in the dark long enough."

"Naruto keeps asking when he can get back to his training," Shizune said with a sad smile. "Sakura caught him trying to sneak out again."

Tsunade chuckled lightly. "Same old Naruto. But if he does manage to escape, it could be a serious problem."

"There's something else," Shizune said, with a hint of concern. "I think Sakura is starting to get suspicious. She's been asking a lot of questions about you, Hitomi."

"Then we'd better get it over with," Tsunade said, quaffing her drink. "Hitomi, you'd better make your final preparations. We'll tell them tomorrow."

* * *

Hinata followed the Hokage's assistant down the hospital corridors. She couldn't keep herself from blinking. Her eyes felt dry and cold, and the pain still hadn't quite faded. She cradled her heavily bandaged right hand against her stomach, trying not to jostle it too much as she walked.

The Hokage's assistant stopped outside a door and looked down both ends of the corridor. Hinata noted the cautious look in her eyes. She wondered again why the Hokage wanted to see her in private. What could be so important?

"Alright, you can go in now," Shizune whispered as she opened the door for her.

Hinata gave her a brief smile of thanks. She stepped forward, but froze when she heard a voice from inside – one that she wasn't expecting.

"C'mon, Grandma, I'm fine. Why won't you let me get back to my training?" the boy protested.

'Naruto?' Already the girl could feel her cheeks warming up. She swallowed her fear and took a few hesitant steps into the room.

Hearing someone enter, the boy turned to look. A wide grin spread across his face when he caught sight of the indigo haired girl. "Hinata!" He leapt out of his chair and made to rush over to her, only to stumble and fall flat on his face.

The girl gasped. "Naruto! A-are you alright?" She quickly knelt down beside him.

"Ow," the boy groaned, pulling himself up onto his knees. Then he noticed the girl kneeling next to him. "Hinata, are you okay?" he asked, the concern evident in his voice. "I wanted to see you, but they said I couldn't. I heard you were hurt really bad. I was so worried about you."

"Y-you were?" The girl felt her cheeks flush.

The boy looked her over, noticing the bandages on her hand. "Oh man, what happened? It doesn't hurt, does it? Are you sure you're okay?" He looked into her eyes, his expression full of worry. "I'm so sorry. I tried to help, but I..."

The Hokage cleared her throat loudly, interrupting the boy. "Naruto, Hinata, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I brought you here for a very important reason. Please take your seats."

Two simple wooden chairs stood in the middle of the small sitting room facing a third, occupied by the Hokage. Both teenagers pulled themselves to their feet, the boy wincing as he did so. Hinata watched with concern as he walked slowly to his chair and gingerly lowered himself into it, holding his side the whole time.

Tsunade directed her attention to her assistant for a moment. "Alright, Shizune, please go and find our guest."

Shizune bowed her head and left, closing the door quietly.

Silence descended upon the three left behind in the small sitting room. The two teenagers looked expectantly at the Hokage who sat in her chair across from them, staring out of the room's single window. The boy noticed a hint of sadness in her empty gaze. He furrowed his brows in confusion, not knowing what she was so serious about.

The girl, too, was confused about the situation. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, occasionally stealing glances at the boy next to her.

Frustrated by the silence, Naruto finally spoke up. "C'mon, Grandma, what's going on? You drag us here to this secret meeting and then you just sit there staring out the window. What's so important?"

Slowly, she looked back and forth between the two teens. Her voice seemed tired when she spoke. "I'm afraid you two are in serious trouble."

Both of them pulled back a little. Naruto, in particular, was starting to get very worried. He knew Tsunade, and had been in trouble with her on more occasions than he could count. But even he could tell that something was different this time.

Hinata felt herself trembling. She had no idea what she could have done. She swallowed hard and summoned the courage to ask. "B-but what did we do wrong?"

Tsunade took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Hinata, do you remember the conversation we had when you woke up a few days ago... about your father?"

The girl nodded hesitantly.

"Have you remembered anything else since then?" the Hokage asked.

The girl's eyes wandered the floor for a moment as she tried to search her jumbled memories for anything that had happened after her last mission. Finding nothing, she looked up at the Hokage, confusion written on her face. "N-no."

Tsunade glanced at the boy for a moment. She could see the anger simmering beneath the surface. Clenched fists and furrowed brows spoke clearly of what he was thinking. She caught his gaze and held it for a moment, silently telling him to calm down.

When she was sure he had caught the message, she turned back to the girl. Tsunade leaned forward in her chair and looked at her squarely. "Now, Hinata, I know this may be a shock to you, but you need to hear what happened."

The girl began fidgeting a little; fearful of the Hokage's serious tone.

Tsunade paused to gather her thoughts for a moment before starting. Though she'd carefully planned how she would explain things to the teenagers, it didn't make it any easier. She knew she was about to turn their young lives upside down.

"Hinata, when you came back from your last mission you were in a serious condition, both physically and mentally. Your father came to see you, and he was... disappointed."

The girl tensed slightly as she recalled her fathers' many scolding lectures. But she knew from the Hokage's tone that this was something even more serious.

"He became angry," Tsunade continued, a mixture of frustration and sadness crossing her features, "and he declared that... you were no longer his heir."

The girl gasped silently. She slowly brought her hand up to her mouth as the Hokage's words sank in. 'He really did it,' she thought, finding herself beginning to tremble. 'He's been saying it for so long and now it's finally happened.' The lingering pain in her eyes began to build as she felt tears welling up behind them.

But the Hokage wasn't finished. "While you were still injured and unaware of what was happening to you, your father took you from the hospital." She frowned sorrowfully at the floor, her fists clenching. "He intended to place the Caged-Bird seal on you."

The girl froze, her breath catching in her throat. Slowly she lifted her trembling hand toward her forehead, fearing what she would find.

"No, don't worry," Tsunade assured her. "Your father was unable to perform the sealing ritual."

Hinata lowered her hand, but her fear did not abate. She stared wide eyed and open mouthed into her lap, her whole body shaking. She felt like she'd taken a blow to the chest. Her father had rejected her, as he'd always threatened to do. Without even knowing it, she had been stripped of her birthright. Everything she had been raised for... everything she had been trained for... the very reason she had been born... It had all been taken away. Did that mean it was all worth nothing? Did that mean... _she_ was worth nothing?

A single tear fell from each of her aching eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks. In her mind, three words played over and over. '...I'm a failure...'

"Hinata," The Hokage spoke to her softly. "Hinata, I know this is difficult to hear, but there's more that you need to know."

The girl slowly lifted her head. She could only wonder what the Hokage could say that could make things worse.

"The reason that your father did not put the Caged-Bird seal on you, Hinata," the Hokage said, "is that Naruto stopped him."

Confusion creased Hinata's brow. She turned her teary eyes to the boy sitting next to her. 'Naruto stopped him? But how? And why?'

The boy sat hunched over in his chair with fists in his lap, firmly clenched. He glared angrily at the floor in front of him, gritting his teeth. "That lousy good for nothing..."

"Naruto!" the Hokage snapped. She glared at the boy, silently reminding him to keep his mouth shut. If he said the wrong thing now Hinata would only be more confused. She wanted to make sure she explained everything clearly, to soften the blow as much as possible for the fragile young woman. Tsunade took a deep breath and turned back to her. "As your father was preparing to perform the sealing ritual, Naruto confronted him. He demanded that your father stop the ritual. Your father refused, so Naruto tried to stop him by force."

Hinata's eyes widened. 'He fought my father?'

"As you can see," Tsunade continued, "Naruto was severely injured during the fight. In fact, your father nearly killed him."

Hinata clamped her hand over her mouth and stared at the boy next to her. The boy she'd had a crush on since she was a little girl had almost died at the hands of her own father. And it was all because he was trying to protect her.

Naruto snorted. "It's only because I was already injured," he grumbled under his breath. "Otherwise I would have..."

"Naruto, be quiet!" the Hokage growled. "You still have no idea just how much trouble you're in!" Tsunade straightened herself in her chair and made sure she had the attention of both of them. "The reason this is so serious is that, during the fight, Lord Hiashi was almost killed as well."

Both teenagers stared at the Hokage in astonishment.

"M-my f-father?" An all new wave of fear overcame the girl. "W-what...? H-how...? Is he alright?"

"He's in a coma," Tsunade answered. "His right arm has been crippled and his heart has been weakened. He will live, but I'm afraid his injuries may be permanent."

Slowly, more tears began to flow from the girl's eyes. "Father..." she whispered under her breath. As cold and callous as he had been to her, she was devastated at the mere thought of him being hurt.

"No way," Naruto breathed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I never even laid a finger on him."

"I don't think it was you that did it, Naruto," Tsunade said. "At least that's not what the witnesses say."

"Then what happened?" he asked, utterly confused. "Who could've done that to him?"

Tsunade closed her eyes for a moment as if in contemplation. She leaned forward in her chair, folded her hands in front of her, and looked at both of them intently. "Unfortunately, Shizune, Sakura and I arrived too late to see what happened. The only ones who did see it were a few members of the Hyuuga clan," Then she turned her attention to the girl alone and fixed her with a look of deadly seriousness, "but according to all of the witnesses, including your grandfather, the one who crippled Lord Hiashi... was you, Hinata."

The girl's heart skipped a beat. Her mind went blank. She just stared at the Hokage for a moment, unable to move, speak, or even breathe. The amber eyed woman stared back at her intently, as if waiting for her to say something. But the lavender eyed girl couldn't find her voice. She turned her head toward the boy. He stared at her, mouth hanging open and eyes bulging. The room was silent for what seemed like an eternity to her.

'_I_... hurt my father?' The words just didn't make sense. Her father had always seemed so invincible. How could someone as weak as her even come close to hurting him? And what's more, how could she not remember it? She searched her clouded mind, trying to imagine any possible way she could stand against her father, but she found nothing.

The Hokage leaned in closer to her. "Hinata, do you remember anything about that, anything at all about your father being injured?"

The girl tried one last time to search her memories, but still found nothing. Her mind was foggy; the pain in her head kept her from focusing. Nothing was making sense to her at all. Hinata shook her head slowly.

Tsunade sighed, sitting up straight again. "As I said, we don't know exactly what happened. For whatever reason, the members of your clan that saw it are refusing to talk. But there is one thing I can confirm. The damage to the chakra pathways in your right hand, though far less severe, is identical to the damage done to the chakra pathways in your father's hand, arm, and heart."

The girl looked down at her bandaged palm, shaking her head in disbelief. "B-but how? I d-don't remember..." Another tear slid down her cheek.

The Hokage reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, I understand."

The boy looked back and forth between the two of them – utter confusion sprawled across his face. 'I don't believe it,' he thought. 'How could she have taken down Hiashi? She was out of it, wasn't she? And if she did, how come she can't remember?'

Tsunade slipped her hand off the girl's shoulder and sat back. A sad, serious look crossed her features. "But I'm afraid it doesn't matter if you remember or not. Lord Hiroshi and the other Hyuuga are accusing the two of you of attempting to murder Lord Hiashi. And they demand that both of you be punished."

The girl recoiled in horror. "M-murder?" Now the tears began streaming down her face and she started trembling uncontrollably.

The boy, meanwhile, leapt to his feet and glared at the Hokage in anger. "What? They can't do that!" he shouted, raising a clenched fist. "They're the ones using that damn seal – treating their own family like slaves! Why the hell should me and Hinata get punished? She doesn't even remember what happened!" He growled through clenched teeth and tightened his fist. "They're the ones that are gonna be in real trouble! I should go down there and whip their asses right now!"

With that, Tsunade had finally had enough. In a heartbeat she was on her feet, suspending the boy from his collar. "Naruto, you thick headed little punk!" she yelled. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

His anger immediately melted away. "Grandma?"

Tsunade slowly pulled his face up to meet hers. "You attacked the head of a noble clan in his own home and in front of several witnesses. Hiashi had every right to defend himself, and even to _kill_ you if he wanted to!" She shoved the boy back down into his chair and glared at him. "According to the laws of this village, you tried to murder Lord Hiashi. You are a criminal!"

The boy looked back up at her, fear and disbelief in his deep blue eyes. "B-but I didn't mean to..." he stammered.

Tsunade looked down at the boy, moisture beginning to collect at the edges of her eyes. "Both of you have been accused of a very serious crime. If you are found guilty, you could spend the rest of your lives in prison." She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away. Her voice began to crack. "Or, you could even be... executed."

A cold, empty silence enveloped the small room.

The blonde haired boy slumped back in his chair. He didn't understand where he'd gone wrong. He just wanted to stop Hiashi from putting the seal on Hinata. That was the right thing to do... wasn't it? He never wanted her to get hurt because of what he did.

The indigo haired girl rocked back and forth, hugging herself tightly. She shivered as she wept, tears dripping into her lap. She didn't understand how something like this could happen. Everything she had worked so hard for had slipped away and she didn't even know why. But what's worse was that _he_ had been dragged down with her. He didn't deserve to be punished because of her failures.

The boy gripped his head in his hands. He'd made the biggest mistake of his life and _she_ was going to pay for it. 'It's all my fault.'

The girl bit her bottom lip and cried. She was too weak to be the person she was supposed to be and now _he_ was going to pay for it. 'It's all my fault.'

Tsunade returned to her chair and made herself face the two teenagers. "The Hyuuga clan is in a state of unrest," she said quietly, trying to control the quiver in her voice. "With Lord Hiashi in a coma, and you no longer his heir, Hinata, the position of leadership is uncertain. Your sister, Hanabi, is still too young, so for now your grandfather, Lord Hiroshi, is leading the clan. But from what we've heard, there are some branch members that are considering a rebellion. This could lead to a war within the Hyuuga clan. You both know that these are dangerous times. A conflict within the Hyuuga would weaken the whole village, and that is something we cannot afford. When Lord Hiashi recovers, I believe he will use force to regain control of the clan. He will make sure both of you are punished, severely, as an example to anyone who would oppose him."

The boy looked up at her. "B-but wait, you're the Hokage. Y-you can make it okay... right?"

Tsunade shook her head sadly. "No, I can't."

"But you're the Hokage," he said, pleading with his eyes. "You can stop it. You can change the laws or something. Can't you, Grandma?"

Again Tsunade shook her head, trying to hold back the tears. "Even the Hokage is bound by the laws of the village. I hate this just as much as you do. But as Hokage there is nothing I can do to prevent you from being punished."

"But you have to do something, Grandma," he begged.

Tsunade swallowed hard and looked at them with tear filled eyes. "The only way you'll be safe is if you leave the village."

"Leave the village? Y-you mean... on a mission?" the boy asked, though he knew that wasn't what she meant.

Tsunade shook her head once more. "No... I mean you have to leave the village," she took a deep, heavy breath, "and abandon your lives as Leaf ninja."

The boy just stared blankly for a moment. Then a half hearted smile tugged at the edge of his lips. "Y-you're kidding... right, Grandma?"

Tsunade looked away.

"Th-this is all a big joke... right?" The boy tried to laugh. "That's a good one, Grandma. Y-you really had me going." He smiled, but his eyes were filling with moisture. He waited for the Hokage to answer, but she refused to meet his gaze. "Grandma... tell me it's a joke."

Tsunade closed her eyes as her tears began to flow.

The smile fell from the boy's face. "Grandma, please tell me it's a joke," he pleaded, his voice beginning to crack.

"It's not a joke, Naruto," Tsunade finally answered, her own voice quivering. "If you stay in the village, there's no way I can protect you. You'll be put on trial, found guilty and thrown in jail... or worse. Either way, your life as a Leaf Shinobi will be over."

"You're lying, Grandma, you're lying!" the boy shouted. He dropped to his knees in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "It's not true, it can't be!" He tried to look her in the eye, but still she refused to face him. His deep blue eyes began to overflow. "I'm sorry, Grandma. I'll try to be a better ninja. I'll never be late for a briefing again. I'll stop pulling pranks and making stupid jokes. I'll even call you Lady Hokage. Just please don't make me leave the village!" he pleaded with her; tears pouring down his whiskered cheeks. "Please... d-don't send me away."

Tsunade gently wrapped her arms around him as the boy broke down. He fell into her shoulder, weeping uncontrollably. For a while she just let him cry – holding him while he let out his pain. "I'm sorry, Naruto," she said softly, "but this is the only way. Even if you were only in prison for a few years, it would be the end of your dream." She heard the boy inhale sharply. "Nobody would accept a convicted criminal as Hokage."

"B-but how can I ever be Hokage if I leave the village?" he asked, trying to sniff back the tears.

Tsunade pulled herself back to face him and finally looked him in the eye. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked with a tear stained smile. "I left this village, too. I was gone for years. Then one day, a slimy old pervert and a loud mouthed little brat showed up and told me I was going to be the next Hokage."

He didn't smile, but the tears seemed to lessen.

"Don't worry, Naruto," she said in the most reassuring voice she could muster. "This won't make it any easier, but your dream won't be impossible. At least this way, you'll have a chance."

The boy nodded solemnly. He wiped his face on his sleeve and slowly took his seat again.

Tsunade turned her attention to the indigo haired girl. Hinata sat curled up in her chair, her face buried in her folded arms. The blonde leaned in close to her. "I'm sorry, Hinata. I know this an awful lot to be burdened with all of a sudden. I'm sure you don't want to leave any more than Naruto, but this is the only way you'll be safe." She put a hand on her arm and tried to coax her into lifting her chin. "I'm going to do everything I can to help your father recover and to prevent any conflict within your clan. But most of all, I want to protect you. If it really was you that attacked your father, then I'm sure you did it for the right reasons. In fact you probably saved Naruto's life." The girl's trembling suddenly stopped at those words and Tsunade let herself smile a little. "I know that the idea of leaving behind your friends and family must sound very hard, but I think it's the best thing to do – for you, for Naruto and for your clan. Do you understand?"

Slowly the girl lifted her head. Her eyes puffy from all the crying, she looked up at the Hokage for a moment before sadly nodding her head.

"Alright." Tsunade sat back in her chair. She wiped her face with a handkerchief and straightened her clothes. They'd taken it about as well as she could have hoped. She'd done everything she could to soften the blow. Now it would be up to them to deal with the harsh reality of what they'd gotten themselves into.

"So do you both understand what I'm saying? You have to leave the Leaf Village, abandoning your lives as Leaf Ninja. You have to leave secretly, without telling anyone that you're going. While you're gone, you won't be able to have any contact with your friends and family. And you can't return to the Leaf Village until this conflict with the Hyuuga is resolved and you have been forgiven for your crimes."

Both teenagers looked at her sadly and slowly nodded in response.

But Naruto still had a look of concern on his face. "But, Grandma, what are we supposed to do? Where do we go once we've left the village?"

Tsunade smiled slightly. "Don't worry. The two of you won't be going alone. I've found somebody who's going to go with you and make sure you stay safe." She turned to the door. "Shizune, have you found our guest?"

"Yes, Lady Hokage," her assistant called from the hallway.

"You can bring her in now," Tsunade called back.

Naruto and Hinata turned to the door. They watched as Shizune entered, followed by a familiar snow haired woman.

"Hey there, you two. Looks like the three of us are gonna be spending some time together, Huh?" Hitomi said with a smile.

"M-Miss Hitomi?" Hinata said with some surprise.

"Wait, we're going with _her?_" Naruto asked. "I thought she was just some medical ninja you called in to help us, Grandma."

"Hitomi is an old friend of mine," Tsunade replied. "She is a medical specialist, yes, but the main reason I brought her here was to ask her to take you two under her wing. She's agreed to travel with you and help you stay out of trouble until all this mess can be resolved."

"Oh... So uh, where are we going?" Naruto asked.

"Nobody will know that, other than Hitomi," Tsunade answered. "If I want to contact you, I'll send Shizune to track you down. Otherwise we won't be hearing from each other until you return." She turned to Hitomi. "Have you made your preparations?"

Hitomi nodded. "Yup. We're all set for tomorrow night."

Hinata gasped. "T-tomorrow night?"

"Wait, you don't mean we're leaving tomorrow?" Naruto asked. Both teenagers were clearly mortified at the thought of leaving so soon.

"I'm afraid so," Tsunade answered. "I know you're both still recovering, but we have to get you out of the village as soon as possible."

"But what about all our stuff?" asked the boy. "Don't we need time to pack? And can't we say goodbye to our friends?"

"We've already made plans," Tsunade assured him. "You don't have to worry about packing for your journey." She sighed and a saddened expression crossed her face. "But, apart from your teachers and a handful other people, I'm afraid nobody can know that you're leaving. You'll have a chance to see your teammates, but you won't be able to tell them anything. Remember that this has to remain a secret. Anyone who assisted your escape, or even knew about it, could be punished severely. So we can't tell them about this, for their sake as well as yours."

Both teens were saddened. Each thought about all the people they would have to leave behind without even getting the chance to say goodbye.

"I know it's hard," Tsunade said, doing her best to comfort them. "But it's for your own safety – and perhaps theirs as well." She stood and motioned for Shizune to lead them back to their hospital rooms. "Now I'm sure you're tired. I know it will be difficult, but please try to get some rest. You'll be leaving tomorrow after dark."

Without another word, they rose from their seats and followed Shizune down the empty corridors to their rooms. Naruto waved to Hinata as they parted. She gave him a small, sad smile in return. Both lay down on their beds and thought about all they'd just been told.

Naruto knew what it was like to be away from the village for a long time. It didn't seem all that long ago since he'd gone travelling with Jiraiya. But that didn't mean it would be any easier. With Jiraiya, it had been a training mission. Everyone knew about it and he knew when he was coming back. But this time he was being forced to leave and he had no idea when he would see the village again. He'd have to leave his friends behind without even saying goodbye. And he was going with some strange woman that he'd only just met a few days ago. He thought about all his friends that he'd miss. Kakashi Sensei... Iruka Sensei... Konohamaru... Sakura... So many times, during his two and a half years of training, he'd wished he could have seen just one of them, even for a moment. That was what he'd miss most about the village. But then a thought occurred to him. Things were different this time. It wouldn't just be him and some weird teacher. Hinata was going, too. Maybe that would make it a little easier.

Hinata curled up in her sheets and cried. In less than an hour her whole life had fallen apart around her, and she didn't even understand why. She'd been cast aside by her father and lost everything she'd worked so hard for. She felt like her life had no meaning anymore. And now she had to leave the village. Her home, her family, her friends and everything else she had left – she had to leave it all behind. She didn't know when she would be able to come back... and she began to wonder if it would be best if she never came back at all. With her birthright taken away she would never be accepted by her clan. All she had left were the people close to her. She thought about her small circle of friends and family. Kurenai Sensei... Shino... Kiba and Akamaru... Neji... and Hanabi... Would she ever see them again? But then she remembered there was one person she cared about that she wouldn't be leaving behind. Naruto was going with her. They'd be together all the time – just the two of them and this Hitomi woman. She felt a familiar warmth growing in her cheeks as she thought about being almost alone with him, maybe for a long time. Perhaps it wouldn't be quite as bad as she feared.

* * *

Tsunade stared out of her office window, sipping on a cup of sake. She wondered for the thousandth time if she'd made the right choice to send the two of them away. A light knock at the door broke her out of her thoughts. "Come in," she said, after hiding her drink.

A young woman with candy pink hair stepped in. "Lady Hokage, may I ask you something?"

Tsunade had already guessed what her apprentice wanted to know. "Of course, Sakura."

The young medical ninja stepped forward and closed the door behind her. "It's about Miss Haruka. She has something to do with Naruto and Hinata, and the situation with the Hyuuga, doesn't she?"

Tsunade sighed. "I was wondering when you would ask me that. Alright, I suppose it's time you were told the truth."

* * *

Authors Notes:

Cripes, I can't believe I wasted that many words saying "Naruto, Hinata, you have to leave the village." I have got to learn to just _get on with it!_ I know, some of you are probably thinking that you like all this squishy fluffy tear jerker crap, but I'm never going to be able to sell anything like this. When you think about it, this chapter added precisely _nothing_ to the plot!

Oh well. I hope you enjoy anyway. And don't worry about my negativity, I'm just suffering from some serious writers block at the moment.


	29. All You Need

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 29: All You Need.

The boy sat on the edge of his hospital bed looking out upon the Leaf village, perhaps for the last time. "I'm sorry Grandma," he said with a sigh.

Tsunade shook her head. "Naruto, you don't have to keep saying that."

"But I messed up, worse than ever," he said, hanging his head in shame.

"I won't blame you for your motivations," the Hokage said, "but the way you tried to solve the problem was reckless and foolhardy. You have to learn to solve your problems without using your fists. Sometimes violence is the only way, but you should always look for an alternative."

"I know that, Grandma," he said dejectedly. "I guess I deserve to get kicked out of the village like this. I just wish Hinata didn't have to be punished, too."

The boy didn't see the slight smile that tugged at the Hokage's lips. 'He may try to look all tough and macho, but he cares so much about other people,' she thought to herself. 'If he can just grow up a little and learn to use his head, he'll make a truly great Hokage someday.'

"Hey, Grandma, I wanted to ask you something," he said, looking up at her with furrowed brows. "If Hinata really was the one that took down her father and saved me and all, then how come she can't remember?"

Tsunade stroked her chin in thought for a moment before answering. "Yes, I suppose you should know about that." She took a seat next to him. "I guess the simple way to say it is that she doesn't want to remember."

"Huh?" The boy cocked his head to one side in question.

"Hinata doesn't remember much of anything since she faced those four rogue Cloud ninja," Tsunade continued. "After all the stress she was put through, her subconscious mind blocked out the memories so that she wouldn't have to face them."

"So she doesn't remember... about the..." he placed a hand over his stomach.

"Apparently not," Tsunade answered. "However, that doesn't mean the memories aren't there anymore. If anything were to remind her about what happened, it could unlock them and they could all come flooding back to her in an instant."

"Is that a bad thing?" Naruto asked, seeing her worried expression.

"That's hard to say," Tsunade replied. "She locked those memories away because she couldn't face them. If she was forced to remember, it could be just as bad as it was when she first experienced them."

The boy looked down at his hands. "So she could end up 'hiding away in her mind' like she did before?"

"I don't know," Tsunade answered with a sigh. "That depends on whether she's ready to deal with it. Right now she probably wouldn't understand everything that happened... especially about _you-know-what_." She turned to face the boy and looked him square in the eye. "You know, you may have to tell her about it someday. I know you may not want to, but it could be the best thing for her."

Naruto turned his head down and nodded sadly.

Tsunade gave him a soft smile. "Well I've got work to do." She stood and headed for the door.

"Hey wait, are you leaving?" The boy called after her, a look of sadness in his blue eyes.

"I'll see you later tonight when you leave," the Hokage assured him. "Besides, I think you've got some other visitors."

She stepped out the door, but shortly after, another person entered. "Hey there. You feeling better?"

The boy's face lit up. "Iruka Sensei!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet, only to sit back down gingerly when a sharp pain grabbed him in the ribs.

"Whoa, take it easy there, Naruto," Iruka said with a half hearted grin as he kicked the door shut behind him. "You need your rest for your big trip."

"So you know about it, huh?" the boy said sadly.

"Yeah, they asked me to grab some things from your apartment," he replied, slipping a backpack off his shoulder and propping it against the wall. "So you're gonna be away from the village for a while then, huh?"

The boy sighed. "Yeah, I guess so." He looked down at the floor dejectedly. But then something caught his attention. He lifted his head and began sniffing the air. "Hey, Sensei, why do I smell ramen?"

Iruka grinned from ear to ear as he pulled a covered bowl out from behind his back. "I couldn't let you leave without buying you a bowl of Ichiraku ramen, could I?"

Naruto's mouth watered as he took the still steaming bowl from Iruka's hands. He pulled back the cover and inhaled the spicy aroma. "Sensei, you are the best," he said, grinning heartily. He took his chopsticks and held them ready; but as he was about to dig in, he paused.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Iruka asked when he saw the boy's grin starting to fade.

Naruto looked down into the steaming broth, his eyes far away. "When I was away with the Pervy Sage, I used to think about Ichiraku ramen all the time. We travelled all over the place and I ate all kinds of ramen wherever we went. Some of it was really good, but never as good as Ichiraku's. Somehow it was never quite the same, you know? It was like there was always something missing."

Iruka nodded. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean."

"This might be the last time I get to taste real Ichiraku ramen for a while," the boy said, scooping up a mouthful of noodles. "I want to make sure I taste every bite." Slowly he began to eat, carefully chewing each mouthful. His smile returned as he savoured his favourite meal.

"Hey, Iruka Sensei, could you do me a favour?" He asked, about half way through. "After I'm gone, could you say goodbye to Ayame and Old Man Teuchi for me?"

Iruka took a seat next to him. "Sure, no problem," he said with a smile.

Naruto grinned back at him. "You'd better make sure they don't go out of business," he chuckled. "Oh, and could you say goodbye to Konohamaru and the gang, too? I don't want them to think I'm a jerk for running off without seeing them."

"Don't worry about it," Iruka said reassuringly. "I'm not allowed to tell them everything, but I'll make sure they know you were thinking about them."

"Thanks, Sensei." Naruto smiled sadly. "I wish I could say goodbye to them myself. I'm really gonna miss them."

"Well it's not that bad, is it?" Iruka asked, a mischievous grin spreading its way across his face. "I mean you get to spend a whole lot of time with a certain special someone."

Naruto looked at him in puzzlement, a strand of noodle hanging out of his mouth.

"You know who I'm talking about," Iruka said, nudging him in the ribs, "Miss Hyuuga."

"Oh yeah," Naruto said, swallowing the mouthful. "It'll be a lot more fun to have someone my own age to hang out with."

"Hang out?" Iruka raised an eyebrow at him. 'Don't tell me he still hasn't figured it out yet.' He thought.

"Yeah, well when I was with the Pervy Sage, he was always running off by himself to do his _'research'_." Naruto rolled his eyes. "But if Hinata's there I'll have someone else to train with and stuff."

Iruka shook his head in disbelief as he watched the boy slurp down the last of the broth. 'I sure hope he figures it out sooner or later,' he thought, 'at least for her sake.'

The boy gave a contented sigh. "Thanks again, Sensei," he said, putting the empty bowl aside. "It's gonna be real hard having to leave – not knowing when I can come back. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Naruto." Iruka smiled sadly. "But if I know you as well as I think I do, you'll come back a whole lot sooner, and a whole lot stronger, than anyone expected. I've been watching you since the day you entered the academy, and you've achieved far more than anyone believed you could. I believe that, one day, you'll be one of the most powerful and respected ninja in the world."

The boy chuckled. "What do you mean _'one of the most'_? I'm gonna be the greatest ninja who ever lived!"

Iruka smirked. "Well with that kind of attitude you might just pull it off." He stood and turned to face the boy. "Well, I've got to get back to my class."

"So this is goodbye, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Without a word, the boy stood and pulled his sensei into a hug.

"Goodbye, Naruto," Iruka said as he hugged him back.

The boy winced. "Hey, not so hard, Sensei," he said with a light chuckle.

Iruka pulled back and ruffled the boy's hair. "I thought you were supposed to be tough." He headed for the door. "Take care of yourself, Naruto."

"Don't worry, Sensei. I'll be back before you know it," the boy said with a grin.

Naruto laid himself back down on his bed. He let his thoughts drift for a few minutes before a knock at the door called him back to reality.

"Hey there, Naruto, I thought I'd drop by for a minute," Kakashi said lazily. He entered the room with his face firmly planted in his favourite book. Following close behind was the book's white haired author.

"What's up, Kid? You feeling better?" Jiraiya asked.

"Hey guys. I'm doing okay I guess," the boy answered half heartedly.

"Damn, Kid, I wish I had your luck," Jiraiya said, grinning from ear to ear, "getting to run off with that fine little lady."

Naruto gawked at him in confusion. "Huh, you mean Hinata?"

"Hinata? Oh right, your little friend," the Toad Sage said. "No, I'm talking about that sassy little blue eyed beauty, Hitomi." He nudged the boy in the shoulder and grinned. "Boy, is she ever a fine looking woman. I mean she's got everything in the right place – not too big, not too small. I wouldn't mind spending some time following her around," he said, wiggling his fingers perversely.

"Would you quit it, you dirty old pervert!" the boy yelled. "I'm sick of listening to you talk about your _'research'_. She's just some lady who I'm gonna be hanging out with for a while."

The old lecher leaned in close. "Come on, you think she's pretty though, right?"

A light blush dusted his whiskered cheeks. "W-well so what? I mean who cares what she looks like? I'm not even sure if I want to hang around with her. I don't know if I trust her yet."

Kakashi snapped his book shut. "Well you'd better not be thinking about running off by yourself," he said firmly. "There'll be a lot of people looking for you out there, Naruto. If you want to last more than a week without getting caught, you'll need some help. And this Hitomi person sounds like someone who knows how to stay off the map."

"He's right, Kid," Jiraiya said, turning serious again. "If Tsunade called her especially for this then it means she's the right person for the job. Tsunade seems to know her well, and if she trusts her, that should be enough."

The blonde boy thought about it for a while. "Yeah I guess you're right. I mean I don't know what I'd do if I was on my own."

"You'll be in good hands, Kid," the Toad Sage said with a smirk. "And if you're lucky, you might even learn something."

"Oh don't worry. I'll be stronger than ever when I come back," the boy declared with a wide grin. "I'm not just gonna hide away in a cave somewhere. I'm gonna train my butt off! I'll be so strong that they'll be begging me to be Hokage."

Both men chuckled lightly. "That's the spirit," Jiraiya said. "But remember, this isn't like the little field trip we went on. It won't all be about the training."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"I mean you have to realise what kind of life you're going to live out there," the old pervert said firmly. "The moment you leave the village, you'll become a wanted criminal, hunted by your former comrades. Apart from the handful of people who know about this little scam, every Leaf ninja will be your enemy!"

The boy recoiled as though he'd been slapped in the face. "Are you serious?"

"That's right, Naruto," Kakashi said, his voice low and cold. "When the two of you leave, you will become rogue ninja. Your names will be entered into the Bingo book. Any Leaf Shinobi that finds you will be under standing orders to capture or kill you on sight." He fixed the boy with his single piercing eye. "You may even be forced to fight them just to survive."

"No way," Naruto breathed. He shook his head slowly as the revelation set in. "So you mean we'll be like Zabuza and Haku, hiding from tracker ninja and stuff?"

"That's right, Naruto," Kakashi answered. "You and Hinata both have special skills and abilities. You carry many secrets that other villages would be eager to get their hands on. And without the protection of the Leaf Village, they'll be able to hunt you without fear of sparking a war. That means any ninja you meet could be a potential enemy."

"You're gonna be on the run, kid," Jiraiya said. "You've got to learn how to lay low and stop drawing attention to yourself... if that's even possible," he added with an amused snort.

Naruto frowned at the floor for a while. "So just about every ninja in the whole world is gonna be my enemy..." A fierce grin gradually spread its way across his face. "Well then, that just means I'm gonna have to get even stronger."

Jiraiya laughed out loud at the boy's bold statement. "Damn, Kid, I keep forgetting just how much guts you have."

"I look forward to seeing how much you've improved when you get back, Naruto," said the silver haired jonin. "But for now, I think you need to get some rest."

"Yeah, I'll see you around, Naruto," Jiraiya said as he and Kakashi started to leave.

"Hey uh, Kakashi Sensei?" the boy called after him. "Have you seen Sakura? I was kinda hoping she'd drop by."

Kakashi thought for a moment. "Hmm... no, I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"Oh, that's okay," the boy mumbled, feeling a little dejected. "Well goodbye then, Sensei, Pervy Sage."

The two men waved goodbye as they left. The boy laid himself back again and let his thoughts wander.

* * *

The indigo haired girl sat alone in her hospital room. She tried not to think about what was happening. Whenever she did, it only brought more tears to her eyes. But there was nothing else she could think about. Her family, her team mates and her life as a ninja were all she had. And all of it was going to be taken away from her. There was just one thought that made it bearable. But even the thought of being with him wasn't enough to make up for everything she was going to lose.

Someone knocked on the door. She wiped her face and sniffed back a tear before answering. "Come in."

The Hokage's assistant, Shizune, half opened the door. "Hinata, there's someone here to see you."

The girl just nodded in response. She wasn't sure if she could bear to see anyone right now, knowing it could be the last time she saw them.

Shizune opened the door wide and the visitor entered. "Good morning, Hinata. It's good to see you up at last."

The girl tried to smile, though she was struggling to hold back tears. This was one of the people she was going to miss the most. "G-Good morning, Kurenai Sensei."

Holding her swollen belly, Kurenai lowered herself into a chair next to Hinata's bed. The girl noticed the bulge in her stomach was much bigger than it had been the last time she'd seen her. It had been about a month after all, though to her it seemed like only a few days. Shizune left the room, closing the door to give them some privacy.

Kurenai smiled at her student comfortingly. "Are you alright, Hinata?"

From her tone, the girl could tell she wasn't asking about her injuries. Hinata started fidgeting and looked down into her lap. She wanted to say she was alright – that it wasn't tearing her apart inside – that she wasn't on the brink of tears every moment, but she couldn't bear to lie to her sensei.

The crimson eyed woman seemed to understand the girl's silence. "Lady Hokage told me what's happening. I know it must be hard for you, Hinata."

The girl hung her head. "I-I'll b-be alright," she stammered in a futile attempt to keep her sensei from worrying. Though as soon as the words came out, she knew they would have the opposite effect.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I wish there was something I could do."

"It's not your fault," the girl said quietly. 'It's my fault,' she thought to herself.

The older woman sighed. She could see her student was barely containing herself, tears threatening to burst forth at any moment. Kurenai tried to care for all her students equally and not play favourites, but Hinata had always held a special place in her heart. Ever since the day she had taken her under her wing and heard the harsh words her father had spoken of her, she had tried to help the girl build confidence and come out of her shell. She thought of the girl almost as a younger sister.

"Shino and Kiba are waiting outside," Kurenai said. "I wanted to come in by myself to check that you were okay about seeing them."

The girl shifted in her bed and fidgeted. She'd wanted to see them, but at the same time she'd been dreading it.

Kurenai could clearly see her discomfort. "They don't know that you're leaving and I'm sure you know that you can't tell them. I understand if you don't want to see them."

The girl held her hands to her chest. "N-no... I d-do want to see them." She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears. "I w-want to say... g-goodbye."

Kurenai could feel tears beginning to well up behind her own crimson eyes. She forced them back down, knowing she had to remain strong for her student. She lifted herself out of the chair and shuffled over to the door, opening it a crack. "Shino, Kiba, you can come in now."

Hinata took a deep breath and calmed herself as well as she could while her sensei took her seat again. She tried her best to smile as the door opened and the two boys entered.

"Hey Hinata, what's up?" Kiba all but yelled. His face was spread with a broad smile revealing his overdeveloped canines. "Man, you've been stuck in this place for weeks. You must be getting sick of it by now."

Shino's face was almost completely covered, as usual, though Hinata could spot the subtle signs that showed he was in a pleasant mood. "Good morning, Hinata. I'm glad that you're finally well enough to receive visitors."

The girl barely managed to put on a convincing smile. A quiet "Hi..." was all she could say.

Kiba quickly made his way around to her bedside. "Hey those rogue Cloud ninja really did a number on us, didn't they? I'm just glad it wasn't me that had to take them all on by myself," he said with a chuckle.

Shino cleared his throat loudly. "I think what Kiba is trying to say is that we are both very grateful for what you did."

Hinata looked back and forth between them. "F-for what I did?"

"Yeah, you know." Kiba nudged her in the shoulder gently. "You saved us from those guys."

Hinata hung her head. "I d-didn't save you," she said into her chest.

"Aw c'mon," Kiba said, grinning broadly. "Don't be like that. I heard that you did great."

"Kiba is right, Hinata," Shino added in his usual monotone. "There is no need for you to be so modest. You performed very well under the circumstances. You should be proud of yourself."

Hinata gripped her bed sheets, wringing them in her hands. "B-but I left you... I r-ran away."

Shino stepped forward and stood next to Kiba. "You did exactly what was best for the team, Hinata. You left us to draw off our pursuers so that we would be safe. You risked your life to protect us, and we are both very grateful."

"He's right, Hinata," Kiba said, smiling warmly. "You saved our lives, me and Shino, and Akamaru, too. We all owe you big time."

The girl lifted her head to look at them and managed to smile a little. "Th-thank you," she whispered.

"Hey, I thought we were supposed to be thanking you," Kiba chuckled. "Oh and Akamaru misses you, too. They wouldn't let him in here to see you," he said with an annoyed snort.

That made the girl smile just a little bit more.

"Indeed, we have all missed you, Hinata," Shino said, as he adjusted his sunglasses. "I hope you will recover quickly, so the team can get back together."

But with that, the smile faded. Unable to face them, she turned away and closed her eyes tight.

Kiba leaned in close to her. "Hey, Hinata, what's wrong?" he asked with a voice full of concern.

The young woman curled her arms around herself and bit her lip to try and keep from sobbing. With that, Kurenai knew it was time for the boys to go.

"Alright, boys, I think that'll have to be enough for now," their sensei told them. "Hinata is still recovering, so I'm afraid you'll have to leave her to rest."

"Of course, Kurenai Sensei." Shino tapped Kiba on the shoulder and gestured for him to follow. "We'll see you later, Hinata. I hope you'll be feeling better soon."

Kiba followed the bug tamer as he made his way to the door. "I'll say hi to Akamaru for you, Hinata. See you later."

The girl managed to raise her head in time to get one last look at them before they left. As the door was about to close behind them she fought to get out the one word that she had to say. "G-g-goodb-bye," she whispered.

When the door clicked shut, the tears burst forth in a flood. Curling herself into a ball, the girl cried into her knees. Her two best friends were gone from her life, and she had no idea for how long. Perhaps it would even be forever. She sobbed her heart out as she listened to their footsteps fading away.

An all too familiar sense of loneliness tugged at her heart. She felt cold all of a sudden and began trembling as the pain ate away at her. But then she felt someone sit down on the bed next to her, and to her surprise, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders. The girl was taken aback. She looked up into the face of her sensei and saw tears running down her face as well.

Kurenai pulled her into an embrace and gently put the young woman's head down on her shoulder. "It's alright, Hinata," she said, her voice beginning to crack. "Don't be afraid to cry."

At first the girl was unsure. Only a few people had shown her this kind of affection. She hadn't been held like that since she was a little girl. But she soon realised that there was nothing she wanted more at that moment than for someone to hold her. She wrapped her arms around her sensei and let herself cry.

"I d-don't want to go, Sensei," the girl sobbed into her shoulder. "I... I'm scared. I d-don't want to l-leave everyone behind. I d-don't... I don't want to be alone."

Kurenai stroked her hair gently. "I know, Hinata. I know how hard it is to be separated from what's most precious to you. I know how painful it is to feel alone." She pulled herself away a little and smiled at her. "But it may not be as bad as you think."

The girl blinked through the tears and looked up at her teacher. "W-what do you mean?"

"Hinata, I know how strong you are. I know that you're stronger than most people think. In fact, I think you're much stronger than even _you_ realize." She reached up and gently wiped away the girl's tears. Then she took Hinata's hand and placed it over her swollen belly. "I may have lost the person that I cared for the most, but I have someone else to care for now."

Hinata looked down at her sensei's stomach, unable to say a word.

"As long as you have just one person that you care about, it's enough to keep you going." Kurenai said. "You won't be going alone, Hinata. And I think it will be good for you to spend some time with him."

The girl snapped her head up and looked at her sensei with wide eyes.

Kurenai smiled when she saw the blush creeping across her student's face. "He always does seem to bring out the best in you."

Hinata turned away and smiled coyly, her face turning a bright red.

Kurenai laughed softly and pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry, Hinata. I'm sure you're going to be alright."

"I'm going to miss you, Sensei," Hinata said as she held her tight.

The two women held each other for some time; both appreciating the comfort and support they drew from each other. Then suddenly they both jumped and pulled apart.

"W-what was that?" Hinata asked in surprise.

Kurenai giggled and placed the girl's hand over her stomach again. A moment later, they both felt the small bump from inside. "I think my baby is saying goodbye."

For a moment the girl was at a loss for words. She remembered herself being held this way, long ago, by a beautiful woman with long indigo hair. That was the first time she had felt the presence of her sister.

Hinata smiled sadly. "I wish I could be here to see your baby, Sensei."

"So do I, Hinata," Kurenai said, smiling sadly herself. "But I'm afraid that's out of both our hands." She cupped the girl's face and held her gaze. "Hinata, you've grown so much since I first met you. You may not be the best in your team, but I am proud to say that you're my student."

The girl was once again at a loss for words. She embraced her sensei one last time.

The two parted and Kurenai lifted herself onto her feet. "Goodbye, Hinata. I know that you will always make me proud."

"G-goodbye, Sensei," the girl's voice quivered. She waved as her beloved teacher left. Then she fell back onto her bed and cried silently.

She let her thoughts drift back to the one thing that always gave her comfort. And she felt that maybe that one thought would be enough after all.

* * *

Authors Notes:

Guh... sorry about the lack of updates. I just got sick of re-hashing these old chapters. Plus, I think I'm going through one of those periods where I think everything I do is crap. Yeah yeah, I know. To be honest, I really only updated this because I was bored. The next chapter will finish up the arc. After that, I don't know what I'll do with this story.

Review if you can be bothered.


	30. The Leaving

Soul Fire a NaruHina fan fic

Volume 3

Chapter 30: The Leaving

The girl stood by the window, watching the sun cast a softening light over the Hidden Leaf Village as it slowly dipped toward the treetops. Her gaze shifted from one building to the next, lingering on the ones she knew best; the Hokage tower... the academy... her favourite tea house. She strained her weary eyes to try and find the cluster of ancient structures that she had called her home. She wasn't sure if it was the pain in her chakra pathways or the tears blurring her eyes, but she couldn't quite make them out so far in the distance. In some strange, saddening way it didn't seem to matter. After all, it wasn't her home anymore.

She was almost grateful for a knock at the door to distract her from those painful thoughts. "Who is it?" she asked, barely loud enough to be heard.

"Hinata, may I enter?" called a familiar male voice.

"N-Neji?" She was surprised, and yet somewhat happy to hear the voice of her cousin. "Uh, p-please come in."

The young man entered, carrying a backpack over his shoulder. "Good evening... Hinata," he said politely and with a slight nod.

The girl couldn't help but notice that he had stopped himself from using her title of _'Lady'_ – the title that was no longer hers. "G-good evening, Neji," she replied softly.

He placed the pack on her bed. "Lady Hokage requested that I bring some things for you... for your journey."

"Oh... th-thank you." She stepped over to the bed and began to open the pack to check its contents. The girl paused when she noticed her cousin turn away suddenly.

"Uh... I apologise, but I had to go through your room in order to find some... personal items," he said, with an uncharacteristic hint of nervousness in his voice.

The girl was more than a little confused by his behaviour. She could have sworn she saw a slight blush on his cheek, though it paled in comparison to the crimson flush that covered her face when she opened the pack and found several of her most personal clothing items hastily stuffed inside.

"Oh, um... th-that's q-quite alright, Neji." She quickly stuffed them further inside and checked the rest of the items he'd brought. There were several other clothing items, mostly travelling clothes for various weather conditions, a toiletries bag with all of the essential, and a few more personal, items. Then she found something far more personal than anything else that could have been in the bag. She took a fearful sideways glance at her cousin as she held the small book.

"I assure you I did not look inside," Neji said.

Hinata smiled lightly and let out a silent sigh of relief. She knew her cousin well enough to be sure he wasn't lying. She put her diary back next to the case of writing tools. Then something else caught her eye. She carefully pulled out the large flat folder.

Neji cleared his throat quietly and looked away again. "I took the liberty of assembling some of your photographs for you."

Hinata looked up at her cousin with no small measure of surprise. She'd never have imagined that he would go to so much trouble for her. She opened the photo album and looked at each of the pictures one by one. The first to catch her eye was one of her and her team mates from when they were younger – a picture that had previously been sitting in a frame on her dresser. Next to that was a matching picture, taken about six or eight months ago. It had been taken the day after she had finally been promoted to chunin. She flipped the page and found pictures of herself and her family. A lump arose in her throat when her eyes came to rest on her favourite picture – one of the few photographs she had of herself and her mother.

"Neji... I..." she swallowed a tear, "Thank you so much. I can't believe you would do this for me."

Neji gave her an uncharacteristic smile. "It's nothing. I wish I could do more."

The girl was about to respond when her eyes fell on another picture. Taken when she was just seven years old, it was a picture of her and her sister, Hanabi. The tiny little girl seemed so happy, grinning wide at the camera. That was before she was old enough to understand the harsh, unforgiving life that she would have to live. It was the last picture of her innocence.

The girl gently ran a finger over the photograph of her sister as though trying to caress her cheek. "Oh, Hanabi..." A single tear ran down her own cheek. "I wish I could have said goodbye."

"Hinata...?" Neji caught her attention. He looked into her eyes with sincerity and regret written plainly upon his face. "I know that in the past I have been resentful of your position. I have despised my duties as a branch member and shown disrespect toward you." He bowed his head in apology. "I am sorry for treating you the way I have, and I regret that I will not be able to atone by continuing to protect you after you are gone."

The girl was completely taken aback. "Neji, please, y-you don't have to..."

"Please, Hinata, let me finish," he interrupted her. "Since I will not be able to atone by protecting you anymore, I vow to protect Lady Hanabi, instead. I swear I will stand by her and watch over her, the way I should have watched over you."

"Neji..." The girl felt another tear trickle down her cheek.

"I should be going now." He gave one last bow and turned toward the door. As he was about to leave, he paused. "I thought you might like to know, I will be guarding Lord Hiashi's hospital room tonight... alone."

The girl understood his hidden message. She looked down and saw a picture of herself as a child, being held by her father. She was just a few years old, and for once, he was smiling. "Th-thank you, Neji."

* * *

Night had fallen over the Hidden Leaf Village. The indigo haired girl sat on the edge of her hospital bed, her backpack by her feet. The hospital was dark and quiet now. She sat facing the door, waiting for the time to arrive.

She had made her decision. There was no turning back now. It was going to be painful for her to leave behind all her precious people, but she was sure that this was the best thing she could do for them. She knew some of them would miss her, but others would be glad that she was gone. She was sure they would be better off without her being there to hold them back. It would hurt, but at least she was going to be with him. Her only lingering fear was that she would hold _him_ back as well.

After what seemed like an eternity of anxious waiting, the quiet knock finally came. "Hinata, are you ready?" whispered the voice of the Hokage's assistant.

Without a word the girl stood, slung her pack over her shoulder, padded over and opened the door.

Shizune simply nodded and began leading her through the dimly lit corridors.

The guards that had been posted outside her room were mysteriously absent. Not a single nurse or orderly crossed their path. Soon they turned a corner to find The Hokage and the blonde haired boy waiting for them.

The boy smiled at her as she approached, though his heart clearly wasn't in it. The girl could see the sadness in his eyes. She offered him a half-hearted smile of her own before turning away.

"Are you sure you're ready, Hinata?" the Hokage asked, keeping her voice low.

The girl looked at the floor, shuffling her feet and fidgeting. "I...Um..." There was one last thing that she wanted to do, but she didn't know how to ask.

The Hokage stepped closer to her and bent down slightly so she could look her in the eye. "Do you want to say goodbye to your father?"

The girl just nodded, silently grateful that the Hokage understood.

Placing an arm around her shoulder, the Hokage led her through the hospital to another room. A young man with long brown hair saw them approach, but made no attempt to confront them.

Hinata looked up at her cousin, giving him a slight smile as the Hokage opened the door for her. Neji bowed his head in return.

The girl stood in front of the open doorway for a moment. The slow, rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor echoed in the silence. Taking one last deep breath, she stepped inside the darkened room.

The door clicked shut behind her and she took a moment to let her weary eyes adjust to the dim lighting. Her heart was in her throat. She knew it was silly for her to be nervous – he was in a coma after all – but still she felt uneasy being in his presence, especially after what she had done.

Slowly, hesitantly, Hinata walked over to his bedside, her eyes glued to the floor. The beeping of the heart monitor seemed like the booming of thunder in the otherwise silent room. She swallowed hard as her footsteps brought her alongside his motionless form. The girl kept her eyes on her feet for at least a minute, too afraid to look at his broken body. When she gathered her courage enough to look, she almost collapsed in shock. The oxygen mask over his face, the wires taped to his chest and the intravenous tubes in his left arm all looked horrifying to her, but it was the sight of his right arm that sent an icy chill down her spine. Bandages covered every inch of it, from his fingers to his shoulder. But in the light from the small lamp over his head, she could clearly see the dark, bluish-purple lines that crept out from under the bandages and across his chest. Hesitantly, she peeled back the bandages on her own right hand and saw a hint of the same sickly discoloration on her fingertips.

Hinata held her hands to her chest as she felt more tears begin to collect. She tore her gaze away from his arm, turning it toward his half covered face. Her mouth was dry and her lips were trembling, but she needed to say the words.

"F-Father... I... I'm s-sorry F-Father..." She squeezed her eyes shut and struggled in vain to keep her body from trembling. "I'm s-sorry... f-for everything..." she sobbed, her voice barely a whisper. "I'm s-sorry I c-couldn't be what you wanted... I'm s-sorry I couldn't b-be s-strong..." A familiar weight settled in the pit of her stomach. The girl almost felt ashamed to be displaying such weakness in front of him. She could hear his voice in her head berating her for her pathetic snivelling, as he had done so often. All those times she had tried as hard as she could to keep it in, but this time she let herself break down right in front of him.

"B-but it's alright now," she squeaked out between sobs. "I won't be a d-disgrace to you or the c-clan anymore. Hanabi will be the heir... j-just like you wanted." The girl buried her face in her hands, letting tears flood her aching eyes. "I'll g-go away... a-and never be a... a b-burden to you again." She tried her best to wipe away the tears and leaned in close to his face. "G-goodbye, Daddy," she whispered, before giving him the slightest peck on the cheek.

Hinata practically ran to the door, pausing for just a moment before opening it and stepping out. She closed it behind her without letting herself look back.

She rubbed her sleeve across her face, sniffing back the flood of tears. The Hokage was waiting patiently for her down the hall, but there was one more person she had to say goodbye to. Hinata glanced at her cousin who was standing to the side with his head down. The girl could see the subtle signs of sadness in his face. She turned away, afraid she would break down again if she faced him. "G-goodbye, Brother."

Neji didn't look up. He stood straight, keeping his pale eyes on the floor. The girl was about to leave when he finally spoke. "Goodbye... Sister."

Hinata couldn't hope to hold back the fresh wave of tears. Without warning, she threw her arms around her brother and hugged him.

Neji was more than a little surprised at her actions. But after a moment's hesitation, he lifted his arms to gently hug her back.

Soon Hinata pulled away from him. She didn't say another word as she walked with the Hokage to rejoin the others.

Together the four of them silently left the hospital and made their way through the empty, darkened streets. They kept to the back alleys, avoiding the few shops and businesses that were open at this late hour. Only a thin sliver of moon illuminated the village, and not a single person crossed their path. Soon the walls loomed before them and a small side gate came into view. As they approached, they caught sight of a slender young woman standing beside the road. With the moonlight so thin, they couldn't see her face until they were within a few feet of her.

"Sakura!" the boy exclaimed when he recognised his friend.

The pink haired girl didn't respond at first. She just shuffled her feet and looked at the ground. When she did look up, it wasn't at the boy but at the indigo haired girl beside him. "Hey, Hinata," she said in a sad tone. She walked over to her and pulled something from behind her back. "I thought you could use these since you're going away for a while."

Hinata took the small box and scroll, squinting her tired eyes to identify them in the thin light.

"It's a special med-kit and a medical ninjutsu scroll," Sakura explained. "Sorry I won't be able to give you any more lessons. But I bet you can still learn a lot by studying this."

"Oh, thank you, Sakura," Hinata said quietly. She looked the gifts over again before slipping them into the pockets of her backpack. "S-so I guess this is goodbye."

The green eyed girl smiled sadly. "I guess so." She pulled her friend into a hug. "Take care of yourself, Hinata," she whispered into her ear. "And don't be afraid to punch that knuckle head if he gets on your nerves."

Hinata smiled a little at her friend's remark. Though she knew she could never do anything like that to Naruto.

The pink haired girl pulled away from her and took a deep breath before turning to the blonde boy. Both of them kept their eyes glued to the ground.

"Hey, Sakura," the boy said quietly, scratching the back of his head. "Looks like I have to be going away again."

The young med ninja sniffed and wiped the back of her hand across her face. "Seems like you only just got back from the last time."

"Sorry to leave you all alone again," the boy said sadly. "But don't worry. This doesn't mean I won't keep my promise." He lifted his moistening eyes to look her in the face. "We're still gonna bring Sasuke back someday. And I'm still gonna be Hokage."

She looked up at him, tears spilling from her emerald green eyes. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out.

The boy looked away, afraid he would start crying, too. "So, did you get anything for me?" he asked, with a sheepish chuckle. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for her chakra powered fist to strike him across the face. But that wasn't what happened.

At first he didn't realise what it was. A sudden wisp of breath followed by something warm and soft pressing against his cheek. By the time his mind had caught up, it was over. His eyes flew open and he turned to face her, but she had already turned her back to him.

"You'd better not forget," the pink haired girl said sternly, though her voice was cracking.

Tsunade and Shizune stood off to the side, giggling amongst themselves. The boy lifted a hand to his cheek, which was now tinged a bright red. He could only gape at the young medical ninja as she walked over to join the two older women.

Not one of them noticed the look of defeat on the face of the indigo haired girl who stood just off to the side.

An awkward silence reigned over the small group for a few moments. Then the sound of soft footsteps from the far side of the gate caught everyone's attention.

The thin moonlight seemed to reflect off her mane of snowy hair as Hitomi strode into view. "Well I hope you guys have all finished your teary goodbyes, 'cause I can't stand that stuff," she announced with a characteristic smirk.

Tsunade chuckled as she stepped forward and embraced her. "Just a few more to go," she said, squeezing her tight. "It was good seeing you again."

"You too, Sensei," Hitomi replied. She pulled away and turned to Shizune. "So I guess I'll see you again when this has all blown over?" she asked her dark haired friend.

"I'll come find you as soon as it's okay to bring them back," Shizune answered as she pulled her into a hug. "Say hi to Masaru if you see him," she whispered in her ear.

Hitomi just rolled her eyes. She pulled back and looked over at the blonde boy. "Hey, what's up with him?" she asked, noticing his dazed expression.

Shizune giggled. She walked over and nudged the boy in the arm. "Goodbye, Naruto. It's gonna be kinda boring around here without you."

The boy shook himself out of his trance and laughed sheepishly. "Oh... bye, Shizune." He turned to face the blonde standing next to her, keeping his eyes down. "Goodbye, Grandma," he said quietly.

"Goodbye, Naruto," she said, looking down on him with a deep sadness in her amber eyes.

For a moment they both just stood there, saying nothing else. Then the boy reached behind his head and untied his headband. He looked down at the polished metal plate with its familiar leaf symbol. A frown crossed his features. "Now that I'm gonna be a missing nin, I guess I'm supposed to carve a scratch across this, right?"

Tsunade wasn't sure how to answer.

The boy shook his head slowly. "No way... Not me." He held the headband out toward her. "You take it, Grandma."

"Naruto, you don't have to give it up if you don't want to," Tsunade assured him.

"It's okay, Grandma," the boy said, looking up into her eyes. "I just want you to hold onto it for a while... until I come back for it."

Tsunade smiled sadly as she took the headband. "Alright, Naruto, I will." Then she bent down and held his chin. "Now it's my turn to give you something," she said, before gently pressing her lips against his forehead.

"Aw, Grandma..." the boy grumbled and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. Then he thought of something. He turned to look for the lavender eyed girl. "Hey, Hinata, what about yours?" he asked, pointing at her headband.

The girl looked up at him for a moment, then down at the leaf headband tied loosely around her neck. She untied the knot and looked at the engraved symbol for a second, before slowly walking over and handing it to the Hokage. She averted her eyes, not wanting to look at the woman, or the boy.

"Don't worry, Hinata," the Hokage said, doing her best to sound reassuring. "I'll do everything I can to convince your father to drop the charges so the two of you can come home."

The girl just nodded, still not looking up. She wanted to believe the Hokage, but her heart told her that this would never be her home again.

"Okay, guys, time to go," Hitomi announced.

The two teenagers prepared themselves. Naruto took one last look at the three women behind them. He smiled and waved to them sadly. His eyes lingered on the pink haired girl for a moment. He could see her wiping away a tear and he struggled to hold back his own. Then he looked past them at the mountain in the distance. He could barely make out the five faces carved into the cliff-side. A look of determination spread across his face. He turned to the indigo haired girl by his side and smiled. "Let's go, Hinata."

The girl gave him a brief smile in return, before turning away to hide the tears that began streaming down her cheeks.

Three women watched with heavy hearts as the two teenagers followed the snow haired woman out of the gates and into the darkness.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Shizune asked.

Tsunade sighed. "I'm sure they'll be fine. In fact, I have a feeling that this will be a good thing for all of them."

"All of them?" Shizune asked. "You mean Hitomi, too?"

The Hokage smiled sadly. "If I know Naruto as well as I think I do, I'll bet they'll all be very different people when they come back."

"I don't know about that," Sakura said, laughing a little through her tears. "He didn't change at all the last time."

"Don't be so sure," Shizune whispered to herself. For once, she honestly believed that her mistress had made the right bet.

* * *

Authors notes:

Yeah, this is like my ultimate tear-jerker chapter. I know I'm cruel. It's also the last chapter in the volume. I'm not sure what I want to do after this. I have things written up to chapter 46, but I'm only properly edited and finished up to chapter 35. I may post more here, but it's certainly not a priority for me at the moment. I'm far too busy working on my first original story.

If you really have to read more, you can find the rest of what I've written on deviant Art. Keep in mind, though, that nothing beyond chapter 35 is what I would consider finished, and I was planning to make _massive_ changes to everything beyond chapter 40. Things get seriously off the rails after that point and the story goes nowhere.

Thanks for all of your support and reviews. Feel free to pester me for more updates, though I don't know if I can actually be persuaded.


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